Win column V.I. Raiders defeat Island
rivals Westshore Rebels.
PAGE 27
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VOL. 27, NO. 26
Election offers series of milestones for city
Glenn Borgens, principal lightkeeper at Entrance Island, and assistant lightkeeper Toni Adams wave goodbye from the station, which has just been given heritage status by Parks Canada. TAMARA CUNNINGHAM/THE NEWS BULLETIN
BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
Light the way Historic lighthouse at Entrance Island earns heritage status from Parks Canada BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
T
he bow of the NPA Eagle bobbed just close enough to the edge of Entrance Island for it to be an easy climb onto a barnacle-crusted ladder – the only access by sea to one of Canada’s newly recognized heritage lighthouses. “Watch out for the rock,” called out principal lightkeeper Glenn Borgens as the boat rocked close to the jagged wall. He stood at the top of the ladder in a green T-shirt and ball cap, a red derrick hanging in the background next to steps with “Welcome to Entrance” blazoned across them. Only about a half dozen people visit the lighthouse every year, which sits 5.5 nautical miles from Nanaimo Harbour on an island no larger than a hectare and surrounded by the choppy blue-green
of Georgia Strait’s inside passage. It’s become an iconic picture of British Columbia’s West Coast, with buildings covered in red tin roofs and white vinyl siding and a 12-metre red and white apple core lighthouse. But the light station is also an active navigational aid of the Canadian Coast Guard. It’s a role the station has held since a fish-oil light first shone in 1876. This summer, Entrance Island became one of 74 lighthouses across the country to get heritage status from Parks Canada. It’s been five years since the Department of Fisheries and Oceans declared nearly 1,000 lighthouses as surplus and indicated plans to divest the properties. In May, the list of heritage-status lighthouses was released under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, with 21 in B.C. While the designation for Entrance Island is being seen as a good thing to preserve its charac-
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ter, there’s also disappointment and concern for lighthouses that haven’t won the new status. Entrance Island’s assistant keeper Toni Adams is “thrilled to death” with the designation, believing its history and its safety value today are reasons for preserving the station, but she’s also sad other lighthouses have been taken down, she said. Ivan Bulic, a director of the Canadian Lightkeepers Association and Gabriola Museum board, sees it as a case of good news and bad news. While the government has responded by looking at how to preserve Canada’s lighthouses, the vast majority of the navigational aids haven’t been included in the act, including Point Atkinson near Vancouver and Victoria’s Race Rocks. Entrance Island is still functioning, so even in spite of the protection it would still be maintained.
See ‘LIGHTHOUSE’ /7
The upcoming federal election will see a series of milestones: the combined NanaimoLadysmith riding, new election legislation and the longest campaign in more than 140 years. The writ dropped Sunday and voters take to the polls Oct. 19. The new electoral area will see redistribution of the former NanaimoAlberni and Nanaimo-Cowichan ridings, won by the Conservatives and NDP respectively, in 2011. Jean Crowder, Nanaimo-Cowichan MP, said having Nanaimo in a single riding is beneficial. “Now that Nanaimo is going to be represented by one member of Parliament, I think that’s better for Nanaimo,” said Crowder. “There was always confusion amongst people in Nanaimo about who was representing them, whether it was James [Lunney, Nanaimo-Alberni MP] or myself. “I know certainly when it came to events in the riding, it was like, ‘Do we invite both?’ ‘Whose riding is it in?’ So I think it’s going to be a lot better for Nanaimo to have one member of Parliament.” Lunney wasn’t able to respond by press time. The Fair Elections Act, which received royal assent in June 2014, contains language that limits candidate spending and could be advantageous to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the ruling Conservatives, according to David Livingstone, chairman of political studies at Vancouver Island University. “What it sounds like to me is that it’s going to advantage the Conservatives right now because by starting the election so early, they apparently are able to tap into some money they otherwise wouldn’t be able to tap into if they’d started it later. “And because their fundraising has been so far ahead of the other two main parties, that puts them in a distinct advantage,” he said. The 11-week campaign could be risky for all parties, particularly the Conservatives, as events out of their control can occur, taking away from their message, said Livingstone, although such events can happen at any time. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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