Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act

Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act To Protect Heritage Lighthouses
Point Clark Lighthouse, Ontario, designated in 2015

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act (French: Loi sur la protection des phares patrimoniaux) is an Act of the Parliament of Canada (designated Bill S-215) for the designation and preservation of historically significant Canadian lighthouses. It was passed by the Canadian Parliament in May 2008. The act set up a public nomination process and sets heritage building conservation standards for lighthouses which are officially designated. First introduced in 2000 as Bill S-21 in the Senate of Canada the bill enjoyed consistent multi-party support despite the unpredictable legislative agendas of minority Parliaments and was repeatedly re-introduced. The final vote of approval was made by the Canadian Senate in 2008 and the bill received Royal Assent on May 29, 2008.[1]

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act (S.C. 2008, c. 16) came into effect on May 29, 2010, and established a deadline of May 29, 2012 to nominate lighthouses for heritage designation.[2] However an announcement in June 2010 to declare almost all Canadian lighthouses as surplus caused critics to accuse the Canadian Coast Guard of emasculating the bill.

The first designations under the Act were announced on 3 August 2012: the St. Paul Island (Nova Scotia) in Dingwall, and three in Saugeen Shores, Ontario, McNab Point and both the Front and Rear Range lights at the Saugeen River Front.[3] As of February 2017, a total of 92 lighthouses had been designated.[4]

  1. ^ "Heritage Lighthouses Protection Act". Justice Laws, Canada. Government of Canada. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2009-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "First designations under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act". Government of Canada. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Heritage Lighthouses of Canada". Parks Canada. Government of Canada. 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2017.