Dear Friends,

This week dozens of you have received the same letter we have from the Minister of Heritage regarding the status of the Keewatin and our request to keep the vessel in Port McNicoll. The Minister’s response (after a delay of seven months) can best be understood by a line in the second paragraph:

“Since the ship is privately owned, the decision belongs solely to the owner of the SS Keewatin”.

However, this response fails to appreciate the mechanism under which its current owner, Skyline Investments, wishes to dispose of the vessel.

What Skyline want is a Federal tax receipt in excess of $10,000,000. Ergo, if the Federal Government continues this course of non-involvement, Canadian taxpayers will be expected to front this money for the appropriation of our community’s heritage – the majority of these funds going to a development company which boasts $700,000,000 worth of assets on its website!

We believe that any taxpayer funds should be used to keep the S.S. Keewatin in its home berth, and for the long-term preservation of the ship.

As Keewatin curator Fred Addis has said, “there is not a single dollar of funding that Kingston is eligible for that we here in Port McNicoll are not!”.

While we appreciate that the owner has rights regarding their property, we are extremely disappointed with the Heritage Minister’s response. The Federal Government has on many occasions in the past intervened in the acquisition of cultural and historical property, and has the power to bring the vessel under its protection if they have the courage to do so.

We are now asking each of you to email the Heritage Minister again <hon.steven.guilbeault@canada.ca> (cc <julie.dabrusin@parl.gc.ca>) to let him know that we simply will not allow millions of dollars of public funds to be used to deprive a small community of its history and heritage!

Dan T. and the team at #KeepKeewatinHome

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Full Letter from the Minister is as follows:

Dear Dr. Travers:

I am writing in response to your correspondence addressed to the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, regarding the preservation of the SS Keewatin ship in Port McNicoll. Minister Guilbeault appreciates your taking the time to write on this matter. Please excuse the delay in my reply.

The Government of Canada recognizes the important work that has been done by the Friends of the Keewatin and the volunteers towards the preservation of the ship. However, it is important to note that the decision to donate the property to one heritage organization over another is a private matter. Since the ship is privately owned, the decision belongs solely to the owner of the SS Keewatin.

The Department of Canadian Heritage does not have the authority to refuse to review eligible applications for designation. Applications are diligently reviewed to determine whether an organization meets the necessary criteria to ensure the long-term preservation and access of the cultural property.

As the subject that you raised also falls under the purview of Parks Canada, I have taken the liberty of forwarding our correspondence to the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, for his consideration, in light of his responsibility for this agency.

Please accept my best wishes.

Sincerely,

Josée Ethier (elle/she/her)

Director

Ministerial Correspondence Secretariat