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441-01238 (Culture and heritage)
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
WHEREAS:
- The Seal Island Lighthouse was established in 1831 as a crucial guide for shipping traffic entering and leaving Bay of Fundy area. Strong tides, weather systems and reefs and rocks around the island have made Seal Island a major hazard to shipping for more than three centuries. Those dangers continue to this day;
- The original settlers of the island, the Hichens and Crowell families, lobbied for the building of the lighthouse. Samuel Cunard (founder of the Cunard Line) as a Commissioner of Lighthouses was instrumental in having the Seal Island lighthouse established;
- Seal Island is home to the second oldest wooden lighthouse still in use in Canada/North America;
- The tower is a classic wooden octagonal tower; an increasingly rare colonial design, complete with original hand-hewn timbers and natural-growth knees supporting the lantern platform;
- The tower displays a powerful (solar-powered) light and the station has one of the very few large electric foghorns still used in the province;
- Seal Island is located amidst a very busy, high-risk lobster fishery, with hundreds of lobster licenses and several hundred fishers operating in the area. Seal Island lighthouse provides a critical backup for local mariners in the event of modern navigation equipment failure, as well as acting as a daymark, with its distinctive red bands. The lighthouse and its nearby foghorn also provide guidance for recreational vessels transiting the area;
- Seal Island Lighthouse is extremely important to local residents of southwest Nova Scotia and to seasonal island dwellers, many of whom have direct ties to the lighthouse through generations of lightkeepers and families who served at the lighthouse from 1831 to 1990; and
- The Lighthouse is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.
We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to continue the maintenance of the 1831 Seal Island Lighthouse as they are currently being managed by the Canadian Coast Guard.
Response by the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Mike Kelloway
The Government of Canada recognizes the important role that lighthouses have played in our development as a nation and fully acknowledges that throughout Canada’s history, lighthouses have been a defining element of rural coastal communities.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is a custodian of numerous heritage sites that have been designated under the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office. As such, the Department takes its role seriously in protecting Canada’s cultural heritage and promoting its importance to Canadians.
Designations under the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office are made by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada on the recommendation of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Created in 1919, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada advises the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the national historic significance of places, people, and events that have contributed to Canada's history. Together with Parks Canada, the Board ensures that subjects of national historic significance are recognized and these important stories are shared with Canadians.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans recognizes the importance of the Seal Island navigational aid to mariners. In order to provide uninterrupted quality service, the Canadian Coast Guard plans to erect a steel tower that will house a new automatic navigational aid.
Funding decisions take into consideration the needs within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ active portfolio of real property assets and prioritize several obligations including legislated and health and safety responsibilities, as well as deferred maintenance within the department’s core group of assets. The latest assessment of the Seal Island Lighthouse indicates a significant amount of resources is required for repairs. This amount is substantial and Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investigating various options to enable these repairs.
The Seal Island Lighthouse, being a classified federal heritage building, is one of the country's most architecturally and historically significant lighthouses. The lighthouse has been nominated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act that came into force on May 29, 2010. The Act facilitates the transfer of surplus heritage lighthouses to a third party who is committed to adhering to the preservation requirements. The Department is open to working with the municipality or a nonprofit group if the undersigned citizens are willing to create such a group for the purpose of preserving the heritage character of the Seal Island Lighthouse.
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Chris d'Entremont
(West Nova)
March 30, 2023 (Petition No. 441-01238) - Government response tabled
- May 15, 2023
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.