Under the federal Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act Canadians can now nominate lighthouses for designation and protection.  There is only a two-year window for the nomination process, however, until May 29, 2012.  Nominations will be considered by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.So far, 56 lighthouses have been nominated, but only three from B.C.:  Point Atkinson, Sisters Islets and Sheringham Point.Heritage BC and...
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The results of the May 2 federal election gives the Harper Conservatives a majority for the first time. It signals little change in national prospects for heritage conservation in Canada. Since taking power five years ago, the Conservatives have shown no serious interest in the heritage file, cut off funding for the Historic Places Initiative, and launched no new initiatives of their own.The federal budget three years ago included seed money for a...
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Calls For Seed Funding:In March, the Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans released its report on the implementation of the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act.   The 2008 Act came into effect on May 29, 2010. Two days before, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) declared surplus several hundred light stations across the country. The significance of this move was that, under the new Act, anyone nominating a surplus lighthouse...
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Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty’s March 22 budget took a cautious approach to new spending and included nothing for heritage.   In general, the Conservatives have not been very friendly toward heritage over the past five years.  They effectively terminated the highly important Historic Places Initiative, and a plan to explore the creation of a new National Trust announced in the 2008 budget has gone nowhere.  The National...
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HISTORIC PLACES INITIATIVE: A Lost Opportunity: Ten years ago this spring, the federal government launched an unprecedented initiative. Contained within a multifaceted, billion dollar new arts and culture program, the heritage project, with a budget of only $30 million, might have seemed pretty inconsequential. But it wasn’t. The Historic Places Initiative was nothing less than the beginning of what should have become a new era in heritage...
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