Trial Island Lighthouse To Be Destaffed

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Trial Island Lighthouse To Be Destaffed

by Weeky Lee

Sep 13, 2009

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 lighth...See MoreTrial 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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