A variety of agencies have maintained aids to navigation and provided coastal rescue services since long before Confederation. The Canadian Coast Guard was established in 1962 to take over the functions of the former Marine Service of the Department of Transport. It operated as part of the Department of Transport until 1994 when it was transferred to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In 2005 the Canadian Coast Guard was designated as a “special operating agency” to give it greater autonomy under Fisheries and Oceans. Unlike the armed coast guards of some other nations such as the United States, the Canadian Coast Guard is a government marine organization without naval or law enforcement responsibilities. However, Coast Guard vessels can carry law enforcement personnel from other departments like the RCMP.
Published
Fonds consists of
- Rules and instructions for the guidance of light keepers book published in 1904,
- Booklet containing the regulations governing landing, storage, and use of oils and fuels at government lighthouses, fog alarms, and depots issued by the Department of Transport, Marine Services,
- Two lists of buoys, beacons, and day marks and other aids to navigation on the pacific coast of the dominion of Canada books published in 1919, one is missing its cover,
- The rules and instructions for light keepers and fog alarm engineers and rules governing buoys and beacons book published 1953,
- A manual for diamond incandescent petroleum vapour burners published by the Department of Marine and Fisheries, 1912,
- Instruction manual for coast lighting by acetylene and automatic acetylene fog signal guns for maritime signalling,
- Department of Marine and Fisheries field book containing survey notes of lighthouses and beacon sites written by C.H. Ellacott, 1915,
- Photocopies of reports and correspondence dating to the late 1890s, early 1900s, related to lighthouse service at various locations,
- Photocopies of Department of Marine and Fisheries Canada Lighthouse Service dating from 1903 to 1945 and from 1934 to 1956,
- Folders containing documents related to the movements of coast guard fleet vessel CCGS Sir James Douglas dating from 1984 to 1987. Includes correspondence, reports, charts and tables, and blueprints,
-Ringbound volume for CCGS Identity program, Ministry of Supply and Services Canada, 15 December 1983.
- Book containing writing from the 17th Law of the Sea Institute Conference held in Oslo, Norway, 13-16 July 1983, containing paper by Carl August Fleischer titled "The Exclusive Economic Zone Under the Convention Regime and in State Practice".
-Also includes 3 photo albums, detailing the construction and surveying of lighthouses.
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