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Last November marked the 137th anniversary of lighthouse keeping in Canada's British Columbia. With the lighting of Esquimalt's Fisgard Lighthouse in 1860, a tradition of lifesaving and service to mariners was born on Canada's west coast. A century later, the country's last major staffed lighthouse was built on Bonilla Island, on the east side of the tempestuous Hecate Strait. Ironically, Canada's most recent lights are among the last to be staffed - Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes lost all of their lightkeepers throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. Only 50-odd stations in Newfoundland and British Columbia remain staffed - vestiges of a once comprehensive and efficient system of aids to navigation.

In the early 1970's, the Canadian government embarked on a program of modernization and automation of attended lighthouses across Canada. Since then more than 190 lights have been automated and de-staffed. Fortunately, the isolation of British Columbia lightstations, combined with their importance to mariners and aviators, allowed many stations in this province to remain attended long after Great Lakes and east coast lightstations had been abandoned. By 1995, though, information leaked from the federal government indicated that de-staffing would soon resume in BC despite massive user and public support for the services of lightkeepers.

March 1995, keepers Chris Mills and Colleen Hammond-Allison began discussing the possibility of increasing public awareness of the role of lightstations by bringing together a group of artists and photographers to visit the lights and record the work of their keepers. During the spring and early summer, a number of conference calls on the lighthouse VHF communications circuits revealed that there was much support and interest in the idea of artists' visits to stations. Keepers on more than 20 stations offered to host one or two participants and even suggested names of artists to be involved.

The task of transporting participants to remote sites all the way from Victoria's Trial Island to Green Island, northwest of Prince Rupert, was a daunting one. A great deal of logistical support was provided by the Canadian Coast Guard, which allowed many of the participants to travel to and from lightstations on scheduled ship and helicopter runs. Between summer 1995 and late 1996, more than 25 artists, photographers and writers visited 27 lightstations as part of the Lighthouse Expedition. As time went on, it became evident that further public awareness and support would be required to save the province's last staffed lights. By April 1997, eight lights had been de-staffed, including three visited by expedition participants. A further 11 stations have been earmarked for de-staffing in 1998, and many sites have already received new automated, solar powered equipment.

For almost a century and a half, British Columbia's lightkeepers have been the eyes and ears of one of the most dangerous coastlines in the world. Although radar and GPS allow today's mariner a greater margin of safety than ever, accidents at sea still happen. In many cases, lightkeepers are the first people to respond to incidents, and whether assisting with radio communications or pulling people from the water, continue to perform a crucial service on Canada's west coast. The paintings, photographs and words of Lighthouse Expedition participants have captured lighthouses and lightkeepers at work, and will serve to promote public awareness of the continued vital role of lighthouses in British Columbia's coastal waters.

This story appeared in the February 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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