When it comes to lighthouses, the federal Conservatives’ lights are on, but nobody’s home.

We should have suspected something was up with the government’s position on lighthouses when it was so tough to get the landmark beacon at Peggys Cove painted last year.

But instead of being up front about the change in policy that has been announced for nearly 1,000 of the federally owned properties across the country, Ottawa opted for a sneaky method of slipping an information item onto the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website last month.