Unless new money can be found, federal funding cuts will leave the Yukon without access to a specially-trained search and rescue team in the event of a catastrophic emergency, according to the team's leader.

Canada currently has five Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Manitoba.

The teams, which include firefighters, police, engineers and other specially-trained members, are called in during emergencies such as building or mine collapses.

They offer specially trained dogs and electronic search equipment to locate trapped people, as well as heavy construction equipment to remove debris.

The federal government has announced it will cut all its funding to the program by the end of this fiscal year, March 2013.

Jim Young, the task force leader for the Vancouver-based team, told the Star today that unless new funding is found, his team will not be able to travel to help with emergencies outside of B.C.

"The impact of the funding cut won't likely be felt to the end of this fiscal year,” Young said.

"But at some point, we won't be able to come outside (the province) without finding some additional source of funding.”

The Vancouver team is primarily funded by the city, with some help coming from the provincial government.

Approximately 35 per cent of its current budget — about $400,000 a year — had come from the federal government before it was cut.

There are about 125 members on the team.

At the annual conference of the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs (AYFC) last week, a resolution was passed calling on the territory's top politicians to speak out against the cuts to the HUSAR teams.

The AYFC plans to write to Premier Darrell Pasloski, urging him to craft a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper "urging him to support reinstating the funding for Regional HUSAR Teams and to ensure that there is sufficient funding in place in the future so that a Regional HUSAR Team is available to any community in Canada within 72 hours of the beginning of an incident,” the resolution says.

Similar letters will also be sent to Yukon MP Ryan Leef, Yukon Senator Dan Lang and federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

Jim Regimbal, president of the AYFC, said communication between the firefighters and the various levels of government is "fantastic” thanks to conferences like the one last week, which was attended by Community Services Minister Elaine Taylor.

Regimbal hopes that familiarity will translate to politicians being willing to speak out on this issue.

"Safety is a priority for Yukoners, and it's important that we know that something like this is in place in the case of an emergency,” he said.

Cabinet spokesperson Elaine Schiman said today the government hasn't received any formal correspondence from the AYFC with regard to the resolution.

They look forward to reviewing any resolutions that come out of the meetings when they get them, she said.

A statement from Leef's office said he "has requested more information to get better acquainted with the subject matter.”

Lang could not be reached in time for this afternoon's press deadline.