In response to a federal audit highlighting the deterioration of heritage structures, the Department of Fisheries has announced a commitment to restore Canada's tallest lighthouse, located at Cap-des-Rosiers, Quebec. Blacklock's Reporter says the 10-storey lighthouse, built in 1858, stands as a significant clifftop landmark.“This project involves repairing the lighthouse’s architectural, mechanical and electrical elements in order to limit water infiltration and increase air exchange,” the fisheries department stated in a notice to contractors. “The final result is to extend the useful life of the lighthouse.” However, the notice did not specify a budget for the restoration.Designated a national historic site in 1973, the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse is a critical coastal aid for shipping from the age of sail and remains an iconic structure. “It is the tallest lighthouse in Canada at 34 metres or 112 feet,” the notice, titled Lighthouse Rehabilitation At Cap-des-Rosiers, Que, elaborated. The lighthouse, described in a 1975 federal catalogue as “a handsome and impressive structure,” was closed by building inspectors in 2023 but reopened this summer following initial repairs.The recent decision to rehabilitate the lighthouse follows criticism from the Auditor General regarding the federal government's neglect of historic buildings. A 2018 audit, Conserving Federal Heritage Properties, pointed out that many buildings were in such disrepair they posed health and safety risks. On-site inspections conducted at 47 national historic sites across British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia revealed widespread neglect.“There is a disconnect between designation and conservation,” testified auditor Jean Goulet, author of the Heritage Properties report, at the 2018 Commons public accounts committee hearings. “When you designate and you don’t provide the funding to conserve, then you’re just looking for trouble.”Auditor Goulet further emphasized the lack of priority given to maintaining heritage buildings: “In the case of conservation of heritage buildings, to be very honest with you, this just wasn’t a priority of the departments.”The audit documented various dilapidated historic sites, including graffiti-marked barricades at the 1793 York Redoubt National Historic Site in Halifax, the crumbling 1848 Louis-Joseph Papineau House in Montreal, and a deteriorating 1917-vintage aircraft hangar at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario.The Department of Fisheries' recent pledge aims to address these issues by ensuring the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse remains a preserved and functional part of Canada’s historic landscape.
