Delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities have voted to call on the coast guard to immediately put the brakes on plans to remove lightkeepers from two stations on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Local politicians meeting this week in Vancouver supported an emergency motion from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District on Friday to halt plans, announced at the end of July, to pull lightkeepers from the Carmanah Point and Pachena Point lightstations.
They also voted to refer the issue to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in hopes of winning its support.
Jim Abram, a former lightkeeper who is fighting to keep lightkeepers at the two stations, called the UBCM support “monumental.”
Abram, who has served as UBCM president, noted that the motion follows previous votes in past years supporting retaining lightkeepers.
The motion against destaffing, which critics have said would put mariners’ and hikers’ lives at risk, says the Canadian Coast Guard decision goes against a Senate report endorsing staffing lightstations.
The coast guard has said that more than half the buildings at the two lightstations are on soil that is not stable enough to meet federal safety criteria, saying the decision is based on a geotechnical investigation and geological hazard assessment.
John Jack (Sayaacath), chief councillor of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, has written to federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier urging her to review the decision.
“As an Indigenous government with a modern treaty with the Crown, it would have been appropriate to consult Huu-ay-aht on this sort of decision for feedback and good relationship-building,”said Jack, who is also chair of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District.
Lightkeepers are instrumental in safety for hikers on the nearby West Coast Trail, boaters, local residents and Huu-ay-aht citizens, Jack said.
If destaffing goes ahead, it will have a “drastic and dramatic impact to the safety and well-being of many,” he said.
However, Chief Councillor Judi Thomas of the Ditidaht First Nation at Nitinaht Lake, said she supports the destaffing, which she expects to be temporary. The Ditidaht Nation is working with the coast guard to develop a plan for the two lightstations and is looking at cost-benefit analyses of options, she said in a statement.
“Both light stations are located within the traditional territory of the Ditidaht First Nation, and we have been aware of the onset of these challenges for many years.” She said the First Nation and the coast guard have a shared goal of restaffing both light stations “in the coming years, ensuring that the stations operate with improved technology and infrastructure to protect the safety of all personnel and users.”
But Abram said that once lightkeepers are moved off the stations, they will be gone permanently.
The four lightkeepers affected have already accepted other positions, the coast guard has said.
Abram said solar equipment to power lights and horns is being installed at the stations.
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