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

Nfld

Dark days for Canada's lighthouses.

Posted Fri, 2011-03-04 19:38
Date Published: 
2011-03-04
Source: 
Capital News Online: Ottawa, by Ainslie Cruickshank

Gary Troake was 40 years old when he drowned off the coast of Twillingate Island, N.L. in 2000. His father, a local fisherman, found his body.

“He drowned right under the lighthouse, less than 500 yards [from it],” says Jack Troake.

He believes his son’s death could have been prevented. “If there was a lighthouse keeper, doing his job like was required of him years ago, he’d be doing his walk about and he would have seen the minute that boat capsized.”

Someone could have been on scene within 10 or 15 minutes, he says

Coast Guard cost-cutting

Nfld MP Judy Foote wants to keep staffed lighthouses.

Posted Tue, 2010-10-05 19:20
Date Published: 
2010-10-04
Source: 
House of Commons Hansard #76 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session

Judy Foote: (Nfld MP) Mr. Speaker, it is obvious when it comes to wasting money that the Conservative government knows no limits. Waste, not safety, is the name of the game.

While the government was telling lighthouse keepers in Newfoundland and Labrador they were no longer needed, it was spending money on a fake lighthouse and a fake lake. There is nothing fake about the danger people face when working and travelling on the ocean. To suggest an automated lighthouse can replace people shows a government that is out of touch. People do not have mechanical failures.

MP Judy Foote

Nfld lighthouse sites contaminated

Posted Thu, 2010-06-10 18:08
Date Published: 
2010-06-11
Source: 
CBC News - Nfl and Labrador

Dozens of lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has deemed surplus are either confirmed or believed to be contaminated.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced that 976 of the country’s lighthouses were no longer needed. Canadian Coast Guard officials said they've determined there are more cost effective ways to operate and maintain them.

A CBC News investigation of a federal lighthouse database revealed that 32 of the province's 45 lighthouses on the surplus list are contaminated.