Iconic and historic lighthouses on Canada’s coasts and major lakes are under increasingly uncertain futures.
Three years ago, the federal government, listed 970 of its lighthouses as being surplus. They say mariners now use satellites to navigate and lighthouses are redundant.
Of that number, federal spokesman Andrew Anderson says some listed as lighthouses are merely only lights on the top of aluminium poles, while other lighthouses on the list have already been destroyed or have simply fallen to ruin.
When the government announced its intention to declare the structures as surplus, they gave until June 1st of this year for local governments and community groups to create plans to maintain the lighthouses, mostly as local tourist attractions. As the deadline has passed, only 128 plans were received to save the structures.
Preservation plans filed include: 50 in Ontario
29 Nova Scotia
20 Prince Edward Island
12 Quebec
8 Newfoundland and Labrado
5 New Brunswick
2 Manitoba
2 British Columbia
In Nova Scotia where 29 business plans have been filed, there are 150 lighthouses listed as being on the chopping block. This include the one on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour the Sambro lighthouse (shown above) which has been a lighthouse location continuously for 256 years, and the Low Point lighthouse at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
Barry MacDonald, president of the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society, says he’s disappointed but not surprised. He says most preservation plans come from non-profit groups and maintaining lighthouses can be expensive and labour-intensive, and many of the volunteer workers are retirees.
He adds that some prominent lighthouses are on islands, making them even more difficult to look after.
The Sambro lighthouse has no business plan as the local community doesn’t have the means to maintain the property. Vandals burned down one of the abandoned light keepers houses in 2008.
However, Sambro lighthouse will be maintained by the Fisheries Department because it is an active aid to navigation with an operating beacon, which is the case for several of Canada’s biggest, oldest lights.
Mr MacDonald notes that the government may be committed to maintaining the light, but not necessarily the structure. He cited the Gannet Rock lighthouse off the southern coast of New Brunswick. The wooden structure remains an active aid to navigation, but the lighthouse itself has become so dilapidated that even the coast guard is wary of landing there.
“That’s demolition by neglect,” he said.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Environment Minister Peter Kent said the lighthouse preservation program has been “very successful.”
Government spokesman Andrew Anderson says although the June 1st deadline for plans to preserve the structures has passed, the government will continue to accept plans for the next two years.
Related story: Saving the lighthouses of Lake Superior
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