The third in a series of five stamps to honour members of Canada’s first responders was revealed in Banff on Wednesday morning.
Canada Post announced the stamps as a way to show how those men, women and trained animals work to keep Canadians safe, coast to coast and on shores abroad.
“Canada’s area of responsibility for search and rescue includes millions of square kilometres and the longest coastlines in the world. Combined with extremes in geography and weather, Canada is one of the most challenging countries in the world for search and rescue operations,” said Ben McCutcheon, director of operations for Canada Post.
The search and rescue stamp, unveiled at Banff National Park’s Cave and Basin site, depicts a helicopter extraction in the mountains.
“Our search and rescue teams respond to more than 15,000 calls per year and they do whatever is needed to find and save those who are lost, hurt or stranded,” McCutcheon says.
Kit Huffer, a member of Canada Taskforce 2, says he loves the meaning the stamp has for raising awareness about the work search and rescue crews do every day.
“Very honoured and very humbled. It was just a very small part of the search and rescue team in that room today. Both hairy and non-hairy volunteers across Canada are doing this and putting themselves in danger to make sure that people have loved ones that come home to them.”
McCutcheon adds that the search and rescue stamp will join the others in the series that honour paramedics, the Canadian Armed Forces, firefighters and police.
“All five stamps reflect our country’s respect and gratitude for the women and men who protect Canadians, sometimes by risking their own lives.”
The paramedic stamp was released in Frederiction on Monday and the Canadian Armed Forces stamp was put on display in Valcartier, Quebec on Tuesday. The firefighter stamp will be unveiled on Thursday in Halifax and the police stamp will be released on Friday in Ottawa.
