Effort to save historic lighthouse site on remote Quebec island up for $50K prize
CBC
A group of citizens working to restore historic homes of former lighthouse keepers on an island in easternmost Quebec has a shot at $50,000 to make their project a reality.
The initiative is a finalist in this year's National Trust of Canada Next Great Save Contest.
Greenly Island, located on the Lower North Shore off the coast of Blanc-Sablon, Que., has been the site of a lighthouse that protected fishing vessels and other boats that have sailed the Strait of Belle Isle since 1878.
Today, a metal, automated lighthouse tower has replaced the old lighthouse, which was destroyed by fire. Nearby, dilapidated houses and other buildings still stand, emptied of all furnishings.
Since 2019, the Corporation de l'Île Greenly, a citizens' committee, has been working to restore and promote the site. It became a non-profit organization last year.
If it wins the popular, public vote in Canada's Next Great Save Contest, the corporation will take home a $50,000 prize to put toward its conservation efforts.
"We are certainly wowed," Jenny Thomas, the corporation's treasurer, told CBC Quebec's Breakaway.
"It's definitely a surprise to be one of the finalists, but we are very happy that we were chosen."
There are 12 finalists in the running. There are prizes for the top three, including $5,000 for third place and $10,000 for second place.
As a child, Thomas saw her grandfather, John "Jack" Thomas, running the lighthouse as he was its last keeper. She described the island as isolated, with a lot of beach, rocks and no trees.
"You're surrounded by water," she said. "So the winds can be very harsh."
To get first place in the contest, the public has to vote for it. So the Greenly Island corporation has been doing everything it can to promote the contest, encouraging supporters to vote.
The competition includes similar projects from across Canada. Last year, nearly 200,000 people participated in the vote, with the Duncan Train Station Duncan, B.C., winning the top prize.
This year, voting opened on April 18 and will close on May 6. Voting can be done through the National Trust website. Votes are tallied in real-time on the website.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.