Ottawa has announced that 1000 lighthouses around Canada's coasts, 206 of which are in Nova Scotia, are "surplus to requirements" and will be sold off. Since this government has managed to put Canada into the deepest hole in a very long time and is still digging, very few will be acquired for public use. Our heritage sold off to balance the books of an incompetent administration.
In its usual doublespeak, the HarpoCons call this "an opportunity for coastal communities". Uh-huh. I believe you.
The story of the acquisition by Canada of 65 F-35 killer aircraft for the sum of $9B made me do a little math. Now, we know that $9B is a lowball estimate. The things are bound to double or triple in cost before this is all over and I can't even find an estimate anywhere of the maintenance costs.
But even the original figure yields the following:
The estimated cost to maintain the Cape Forchu Lightstation, taken over by volunteers, was $80,000 a year. Using this as an average, $9B would pay for the care and upkeep of all 206 NS lighthouses for 546 years.
Added bonuses? They don't make noise, use gazillions of gallons of expensive jet fuel, or kill anybody.
Toys for the boys or joy for the rest of us?
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