1860 - Fisgard Island
Food: Meat, fresh and salted flour, sugar, tea, oatmeal, dried peas and beans. Judging from the manifest of lighthouse-keeper George Davies's ocean transport en route to his new job, he'd likely also have preserved potatoes, suet, butter and a wide array of spices and condiments: salt, pepper, vinegar, pickles and mustard. There was no refrigeration, and bread would be cooked on a coal stove. There was no room for a cow or goat, but the keepers sometimes kept poultry.
Water: Brought in by the barrel, although a cistern to collect rainwater was later added.
Entertainment: Board games (checkers, chess) and card games. A library service and magazine subscriptions were eventually provided.
Voting: Unlikely, as it was the privilege reserved for male British subjects who owned significant real estate or held a university degree.
Job security: Keepers could be summarily fired for "drunkenness or misconduct" or fined if a surprise inspection caught them away from their keep.
2010 - Trial Island
Food: Weekly grocery shopping trips by boat - weather permitting - with all that Victoria has to offer. Supplemented by a tiny garden and some pots on the most sheltered side of the lighthouse, although saltwater spray, thin soil, water rationing and constant wind limit the crop to hardy cabbage and the like.
Water: Rainwater collected in a cistern, water brought in during summer droughts.
Entertainment: Internet, radio, television.
Voting: One of the few positions in B.C. where the voting station comes to you: The Coast Guard will bring elections officials to the lighthouse stations so the keeper can cast a ballot at home.
Job security: Low. The federal government has been automating lighthouses since 1985, and the only 50 stations that are still staffed are under constant threat of closure. The latest bid to automate the remaining lighthouses is on hold pending a federal review.
Justine Hunter