Wednesday, June 09, 2010

What About "Real" Lighthouses?

Yesterday, Michelle Simson highlighted $186 000 for the fake lighthouse at the G20 summit. If you want the quintessential example of misplaced priorities, it's entirely laughable to read that Ottawa is planning to divest itself of REAL lighthouses, in the name of fiscal prudence:

Nearly 1,000 lighthouses, including iconic ones at Peggy's Cove, N.S., and Cape Spear near St. John's, N.L., have been declared surplus property by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

That designation means that they could be replaced with simpler structures, the department's website says.

"The Canadian Coast Guard undertook a detailed assessment of all the lighthouses it operates. The structures identified to be surplus under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act were those where Canadian Coast Guard officials have determined that they could be replaced with simpler structures whose operation and maintenance would be more cost-effective."

I would argue that the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove speaks to all the supposed rationalizations of the government in relation the G8/20 spendfest. It's a tourist attraction of the highest order, maybe the most recognizable symbol of the east coast. The lighthouse "showcases" Canada, it's a natural treasure. We have the government preaching "cost-effective", but they seem to find money for FAKE lighthouses.

Save the real lighthouses, because apparently money isn't an issue.

4 comments:

Gallahad said...

Stephen Harper, and crew can truly sink no further than what they have.

The International media, is now running with the story. There are articles, the foreign press about the "fake lake" and the "toilets to nowhere"

Why would Stephen Harper, care about the lighthouse at Peggy's cove, an iconic symbol of Canada, or any other lighthouse for that matter.

Stephen Harper, cares about himself, and maintaining power, that is what he is all about.

He displays all the classic symptoms of a true sociopath.

It is interesting to note, that most conservatives are not condemning this at all.

In fact most are blaming the Liberals for this fiasco, and some are blaming Mark Holland, for pointing out the folly in all of this.

To say I am pissed, is an understatement.

Tof KW said...

Of course Gallahad, because the reformatories are always the victims and never the problem ...and can never do wrong. If something blows up in their face, it's always someone else's fault; either the Liberal party's fault, or the lefty media, or the lefty EU, or that pinko commie Arab US president.

Conversely if something good happens, then they are totally responsible for that. Canada's financial stability is all thanks to Stephen Harper. Likewise our rebounding economy is entirely his work.

The mentality of the CPofC is not unlike that of a self-serving 5-year old.

Jerry Prager said...

TofKW:
Your victim comment makes me think that when the world went into a cycle of victims rights redressing from the 1950's on, the last group to get their rights were right wing Canadian Conservatives who supported fascism before the war, and were halfway to implementing it here, before Labour the Liberals defeated them, necessitating the last stand of the Orange Lodge before it died out into Legions and seniors, once more into the breach, once more Tory servants paying for the masters mistakes. This with the help of conservative orangemen and the nation's youth the Libs and Labour led the country into Total War against the very people the Conservative government had been allied to until 1935. 75 years on, the neo-right wants it's status as a victim of Labour and Liberals validated, and their enemies cast out into the wilderness, and they are appealing to the dying remnant of Orangemen and other victims of their Parties lack of judgment in the 1920's and 30's, desperately hoping to scare the elderly into supporting them for one last reactionary kick at the can of Liberal Democracy.

Jerry Prager said...

As a lover of history, their contempt for heritage offends me: but then they don't want us to remember, because we might recognize them from the past.