A strong turn out this afternoon as upwards of 100 people kept up the fight to save the Kitsilano Coast Guard base.

The station is set to close next spring, as part of federal budget cuts.

Union supporters and elected officials largely made up the crowd.

Among the non-partisan group were Green Party leader Jane Sterk and NDP leader Adrian Dix.

"If the prime minister changes his mind – Prime Minister Harper, whoever they send out – I will be the first within five minutes to publicly praise him for doing it,” Dix told the demonstrators.

A statement from B.C. Attorney-General Shirley Bond was also released at the event.

It read that while the province understands that the current fiscal climate requires difficult budget decisions, public safety must be the guiding principle.

Jim Sinclair, president of the BC Federation of Labour, vows his members won't let the station close.

He says they'll keep up the political pressure for now, but expect an escalation.

"From the point of view of the labour movement, and all the people who work there for a living -- not just the people who go out there and have fun, which is great too -- people who work out there, they're not going to let it close.

"I don't know what we're going to do, but I'm just telling you here today that we're not going to let the government close this Coast Guard station down, okay? We're going to take actions to keep it open, and to fight this government, until it's impossible for them to close it."

Sinclair wouldn't say just what those actions could be.

He says another planned closure of the same base in 1992 was ultimately overturned, thanks to public pressure.

The Kits base responds to about 350 search and rescue calls each year.