Founded in 2010, the Canadian Lightkeepers Association promotes awareness and understanding of Canada's requirements for staffed lightstations. Specifically, we aim to: [more]

Newfoundland

Federal Government Scraps Plan to De-Staff Newfoundland Lighthouses

Posted Fri, 2011-03-25 10:38
Date Published: 
2011-03-25
Source: 
VOCM Broadcast News: St John's, Nfld.

Newfoundland's south coast is welcoming the federal government's announcement that it has scrapped plans to de-staff and close a series of lighthouses in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. One of the lighthouses slated for automation was Green Island, between the Burin Peninsula and St. Pierre et Miquelon. The captain of the St. Pierre ferry Arethusa, Capt. Charlie Dominaux, was the first to raise the alarm over plans to automate the lighthouse.

Technology casts pall on fate of lighthouse keepers

Posted Wed, 2010-11-03 20:14
Date Published: 
2010-11-03
Source: 
Toronto Star

Michel Mahe set a desperate course for the Green Island lighthouse off Newfoundland’s south coast as waves the height of his Kingfisher cabin slammed the small boat.

“When we left it was really calm. Dead calm,” he said Wednesday of the harrowing trip last month that he described to senators studying Ottawa’s plan to remove lighthouse keepers on Canada’s East and West Coasts.

Southeast winds were forecast for the afternoon of Oct. 8. But at about 9:30 a.m. that day, Mahe, 42, figured he had plenty of time to make the one-hour trip home to St-Pierre-Miquelon from Fortune, Nfld.

Ottawa's Puts Plan to Remove Lighthouses on Hold

Posted Wed, 2010-11-03 20:07
Date Published: 
2010-11-03
Source: 
VOCM Radio St John's Nfld

Senators visiting lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador are getting an earful about what the beacons mean to coastal communities. The senators are studying Ottawa's plan to remove lighthouse keepers in the province and in British Columbia. Senator Bill Rompkey says they're hearing that lighthouses are vital for safety and as heritage landmarks.

There are 23 staffed lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador and 27 in British Columbia. In the face of a fierce backlash, Ottawa has put its plan to remove lighthouse keepers on hold.

New book chronicles Newfoundland lighthouse story

Posted Tue, 2010-08-10 21:51
Date Published: 
2010-08-10
Source: 
Juris Graney, Northern pen, St Anthony, Nfld.

Les Noseworthy had never seen anything like it. Perched atop the sheer granite cliffs of Belle Isle, under rich blue skies, the midday sun poured onto his canvas where a sketch was taking shape of the South West Light Station.

Topics :
Canadian Coast Guard , Canada Coast Guard , Grenfell Heritage Interpretation Centre , Newfoundland and Labrador , Belle Isle , Corner Brook

Future of Staffed Lighthouses Up in the Air

Posted Fri, 2010-07-09 07:07
Date Published: 
2010-07-09
Source: 
Joan Delaney: Epoch Times

The fight to preserve Canada’s staffed lighthouses, which began almost three decades ago, took on new momentum after keepers learned last September that the government was planning to fully automate the country’s remaining manned light stations.

That news was enough to prompt Steve Bergh, who has been a keeper at Chatham Point light station on northeastern Vancouver Island for the past 20 years, to cancel plans to retire in order to throw his weight behind efforts to prevent the move.

“I felt a responsibility to the users,” says Bergh, also president of B.C. Lightkeepers Local 20232.

US Coast Guard introduces boater-operated foghorn system.

Posted Tue, 2010-06-15 10:18
Date Published: 
2010-06-14
Source: 
Jake Bolitho, Muskegon Michigan Chronicle

Boaters along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan now have the freedom to activate foghorns whenever they wish, as the result of a new system implemented by the Coast Guard.

Lighthouses in Muskegon, Pentwater and Grand Haven recently joined other Michigan ports in allowing boaters to trip the fog signal via marine radio.

"It was a decision that was made by our district command," said Lt. Kristi Salzmann of the Coast Guard's Lake Michigan sector headquarters in Milwaukee. "If boaters need to find the lighthouse, this will make it easier."

Fisheries Minister Endorses Lighthouse Protection Act

Posted Sun, 2010-06-13 21:06
Date Published: 
2010-06-13
Source: 
VOCM Radio News, St John's

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea says the new Lighthouse Protection Act is simply making lighthouses available to the public, not taking them away. The new act came into effect on May 29, and forced DFO to list lighthouses deemed a surplus to their operations. That included some in this province. Shea says if a community group wishes to apply for a heritage status to take ownership of the lighthouse, they can do so. She points out it could be a business opportunity.