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http://www.timescolonist.com/news/P...ss+Canada+have+been+halted/4490889/story.html
Plans to destaff lighthouses across Canada have been halted
By Cindy E. Harnett, timescolonist.com March 23, 2011 10:02 AM
Plans to destaff lighthouses across Canada are being halted, Vancouver Island North MP John Duncan Wednesday morning.
“Light stations and lightkeepers on B.C. coast are an icon and important for safety, sovereignty and science,” Duncan said, in a conference call.
The lighthouse keepers are community liaisons and liaisons with government agencies “and in strategic locations where we need a presence,” Duncan said.
In 1970, there were 264 staffed lighthouses in Canada. Today, there are 50 staffed lighthouses on both coasts. Nine of the 27 staffed light stations on the West Coast are automated.
The decision announced Wednesday was made earlier this week on the heels of a 34-page Senate committee report released in December calling on Fisheries Minister Gail Shea to stop destaffing lighthouses.
The report said public safety must take precedence over cost-cutting.
Last year, Shea asked the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans to investigate lighthouse destaffing.
“The committee can only conclude that staffed light stations and lightkeepers play a key role in public safety, and that any cost savings realized from destaffing lighthouses will come at a very high price — that is the risk of loss of life," said the report.
“For this reason, the committee cannot support the [Canadian] Coast Guard's 2009 destaffing plan,” the report reads.
The lighthouses are in B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador.
There are 37 permanent employees on the West Coast along with 10 term employees and seven casual positions.
Duncan said the “status quo will remain.”
However, the politically beneficial announcement for Duncan, who has long advocated for the retention of lighthouses, at a time when the country seems to be headed into a federal election, may not be long lived.
“One never knows what new government may do,” Duncan said.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Plans+...+been+halted/4490889/story.html#ixzz1HRerlhlE
By Cindy E. Harnett, timescolonist.com March 23, 2011 10:02 AM
Plans to destaff lighthouses across Canada are being halted, Vancouver Island North MP John Duncan Wednesday morning.
“Light stations and lightkeepers on B.C. coast are an icon and important for safety, sovereignty and science,” Duncan said, in a conference call.
The lighthouse keepers are community liaisons and liaisons with government agencies “and in strategic locations where we need a presence,” Duncan said.
In 1970, there were 264 staffed lighthouses in Canada. Today, there are 50 staffed lighthouses on both coasts. Nine of the 27 staffed light stations on the West Coast are automated.
The decision announced Wednesday was made earlier this week on the heels of a 34-page Senate committee report released in December calling on Fisheries Minister Gail Shea to stop destaffing lighthouses.
The report said public safety must take precedence over cost-cutting.
Last year, Shea asked the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans to investigate lighthouse destaffing.
“The committee can only conclude that staffed light stations and lightkeepers play a key role in public safety, and that any cost savings realized from destaffing lighthouses will come at a very high price — that is the risk of loss of life," said the report.
“For this reason, the committee cannot support the [Canadian] Coast Guard's 2009 destaffing plan,” the report reads.
The lighthouses are in B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador.
There are 37 permanent employees on the West Coast along with 10 term employees and seven casual positions.
Duncan said the “status quo will remain.”
However, the politically beneficial announcement for Duncan, who has long advocated for the retention of lighthouses, at a time when the country seems to be headed into a federal election, may not be long lived.
“One never knows what new government may do,” Duncan said.
ceharnett@timescolonist.com
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Plans+...+been+halted/4490889/story.html#ixzz1HRerlhlE
