When 'the bureaucrats' automated lighthouses in B.C. and Atlantic Canada

In 1995, word came from Ottawa that the decision had been made to "de-staff" and in turn automate 18 Canadian lighthouses.

But the way one veteran lightkeeper saw it, it was a decision that would put the Coast Guard in dereliction of its duty.

• CBC Archives | The end of the lightkeeper era on Cross Island, N.S.

"It's going to result in loss of lives, property, confidence in the Coast Guard to live up to its mandate of safety first and service always," said Don Graham, who had been serving as the lightkeeper in Point Atkinson, B.C., for 19 years.

The federal government had its own view on what it would result in: savings of nearly $2 million a year.

At that time, automated lighthouses were being used by most countries around the world. They were also in operation in Canada.

Prioritizing savings or service?

"I've got to take my responsibility to deliver the services we need, at a cost we can afford, given the fiscal requirements of the day, seriously," said Fisheries Minister Brian Tobin, defending the decision to reporters on August 2, 1995.

On CBC's Prime Time News that night, Eve Savory reported that Ottawa had originally sought to automate 70 lighthouses, but backed down on immediately doing so for the time being.

"The original plan to automate all of the country's 70 remaining staffed lighthouses was greeted with fury in coastal communities," Savory told viewers, noting that public hearings held the previous winter had made the government fully aware there was pushback on the issue.

'No support'

In any case, Graham said the federal government was still moving ahead in the direction it wanted to, despite opposition from many parties.

"It enjoys no support outside the bureaucrats who have made a career of trying to get rid of us," he told CBC News.

"Now they seem on the threshold of success."

As of 2017, Canada still had dozens of staffed lighthouses that are operated by the federal government — 51, according to a count listed on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website. Almost all of these were in B.C. and Newfoundland and Labrador.