Today's Globe & Mail has a more detailed account.

Two days after they went missing, their first SOS was spotted by a local skier, who told Purcell, which in turn notified Kicking Horse to check if it had any signs of an overdue skier. The answer was no. Golden and District Search and Rescue heard informally through a volunteer who also works at Kicking Horse, but weren't called out by RCMP, who no one told.

This is where the finger-pointing appears to begin.

Purcell claimed late Thursday night that Kicking Horse had told it that Search and Rescue had been called, and therefore the helicopter company thought the matter to have been dealt with. The resort presumed that since one of its staff volunteered with Search and Rescue, that staff member would in turn inform Search and Rescue, which would then deal with it.

...

(It was at a joint ski outfitter and Search and Rescue meeting held in Golden, just last month, that both Purcell helicopters and Kicking Horse resort were directly informed that RCMP must be alerted in order for a search mission to be launched. All sides agree that, on Feb. 17 after the first SOS was spotted, neither Search and Rescue nor RCMP were formally notified).

The issues here are clear. If this account is accurate, the resort is negligent. Outfitters, etc., have a duty of care that extends at least as far as calling police on behalf of their clients. The police have a clear duty to respond and investigate when notified.

We can engage in interminable and otiose ideological debates, or we can acknowledge the facts: that there is a search and rescue system, and that the system exists for the sake of people who screw up. I expect that system to work.

You can blame the victims, thus excusing incompetence and neglect and perpetuating it. Alternatively, you can acknowledge that people will do stupid things, and demand that the SAR system that your taxes pay for is competent and effective.