Trial Island lighthouse, three others, to lose keepers

By Robert Barron Canwest News Service September 3, 2009

A Lighthouse at Trial Island, off Oak Bay, is to lose its
keeper soon as the federal government looks for ways to
save money.

The fully automated lighthouse is one of four along B.C.’s
coast that the federal government is looking to destaff in
the near future, with more expected in a second phase. The
others are Entrance Island off the tip of Gabriola Island,
Dryad Point near Bella Bella and Cape Mudge on Quadra
Island.

As automated technology advances, the need for lighthouse
staffing is diminishing, Coast Guard officials say, and
removing staff members will reduce costs. Advocates of
lighthouse staffing, who have fought automation for years,
disagree and note that lighthouse keepers have saved
hundreds of lives and offered maritime assistance thousands
of times over the years.

The controversial issue of the destaffing of lighthouses on
all of Canada’s coasts has been ongoing since 1985, when
officials in Ottawa began questioning the need to have
staff members and automated technology in lighthouses. In
the face of strong opposition from lighthouse supporters,
the federal government halted the destaffing program in
1998.

Nine of B.C.’s 27 lighthouses are fully automated and
staffed.

Jim Abram, a longtime keeper of the lighthouse at Cape
Mudge, said it was “only a matter of time” before the
government turned again to destaffing lighthouses again as
a cost-saving measure.

“It’s absolutely essential that our lighthouses remain
staffed for many reasons, including the fact that our
lighthouse keepers have saved hundreds of lives over the
years that wouldn’t have been saved if they weren’t there,”
Abram said.

“Providing regular marine weather reports from lighthouse
locations, which is very important information for
mariners, is one of the keepers’ main jobs, but now there
are many times when reports from fully automated
lighthouses aren’t readily available and this wouldn’t
happen if they were staffed 24/7.”

Susan Steele, regional director of maritime services for
the Canadian Coast Guard, visited staff members at the four
lighthouses this week. The schedule for their removal has
not been established.

Steele said Canada is the only developed country in the
world that still staffs fully automated lighthouses. Other
jurisdictions that rely on automated and unmanned
lighthouses are not experiencing the problems that the
critics claim, she added.

“We need to recognize what technology can do these days and
we’re looking to use our resources and people more
productively in other roles,” she said.

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