Sub-centre still closing: Ashfield

Federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield said Saturday's rally to protest the closure of the Marine Rescue Sub-centrein St. John's was all for nothing.

Ashfield said Monday the closure, which will see search and rescue services handled out of Halifax and Ontario, is going ahead as planned.

"Look, people have the absolute right we live in a democracy to demonstrate if they're not happy with decision. In this case we believe that the right decision has been made," he said. "We don't believe for one second that we're putting the safety of mariners at risk. We would never have made that decision if we thought so."

Ashfield said there is nothing anyone can do to change his mind.

"Look, I've been very clear and certainly the Prime Minister's [been]very clear. We had a strong mandate from the Canadian taxpayer in terms of money and getting our books back in balance. We believe that we have to make some tough decisions,"he said.

"Consolidation of services is one of those, and we believe it's both fiscally responsible and operationally sound."

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador's Fisheries Minister Clyde Jackman said a fight with Ottawa over the planned closure of the rescue centre will keep rolling along.

"This was not going to be a one day news item," Jackman said.

"Clearly, the letters to the editors, the emails, the phone calls and this rally point directly to that," said Jackman. "This is not going to end until we see a reversal of that decision."

Police estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 people attended the rally on the St. John's waterfront, not far from where the Canadian Coast Guard's rescue centre has been operating for years.

Fish, Food and Allied Workers union president Earle McCurdy said he has yet to hear anything new from the federal government in response to therally, which drew participants across political lines.

In an email to CBC News, McCurdy said the next steps in the protest were "to be determined. Stay tuned."

Merv Wiseman, a veteran employee at the centre and one of the rally's organizers, said the strong turnout and strong messages were encouraging.

"It's the kind of message that should not just only resonate with the people involved but it should resonate with the politicians," he said. "If this can give us the extra boost, the resolve that we need to move it forward I think this was a good staging event."

The pending closure has put Newfoundland and Labrador's governing Progressive Conservatives at odds with their federal Tory cousins, just weeks after Premier Kathy Dunderdale and her cabinet colleagues stumped for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his platform.

The Harper Conservatives announced the closure shortly after winning the federal election, and have on several occasions referred to the operation which fields calls from mariners in distress as a "call centre."

Work handled by the sub-centre, which communicates with military, coast guard and civilian ships in rescue responses, will be handled in Nova Scotia and Ontario after the closure planned for next June.