Posted by Scott McWilliam on March 20, 19100 at 16:39:20:
In Reply to: Bill13 and wreck preservation posted by Scott Napierkowski on March 09, 19100 at 20:38:09:
Well,
Bill 13 is a serious matter but I thought you might like a laugh. I went to the mountain, met with Mr. Barrett and we talked of Bill 13. As you might suspect, Mr. Barrett does not dive but he has "Jason". Jason has received a basic SCUBA card, a job in Mr. Barrett's office and his first razor in a remarkably short period of time.
With his help Mr. Barrett was able to spend an entire eleven days and generate Bill 13. Tobby is now engaged in a vain effort to save face and has offered just about everthing short of changing the name of the bill to the, "McWilliam Marine Heritage Act" to extricate himself from the mess he has made.
I suspect if he ever hears the words shipwreck or diver in the same sentence he will turn and run, in a way I kind of feel sorry for him, he was really led down the garden path on this one. On the other hand he has retained his sense of humour and now signs his correspondence "Thanks for the Mutiny, Tobby."
The legislation is still unlawfull and every effort should be made to crush it. I have received additional correspondence from Primier Harris and I suspect it will be defeated in the Standing Governement Commitee hearings.
Scott McWilliam
: I've been away from this board for awhile so forgive me if I don't quite have all my facts straight on this issue. As I understand the situation at present, our friends across the pond (I live in Erie, Pennsylvania) are proposing legislation to curtail the activites of would-be wreck salvors and other unscrupulous characters bent on pillaging cultural resources for their own enjoyment. I've poured over the transcripts of this bill's second reading (thanks for posting the info, Dave & Annette) and I've read most of the other posts on this board in regard to this bill. First, a few questions:
: 1- Who the hell is this Jim Murphy from Port Dover and what's his REAL motive for sounding off to the opportunistic Mr. Barrett?
: 2- Who else has been hollering for legislation of this magnitude? Based on past experiences, it takes more than just one voice to prompt a lawmaker to draw up such a proposal.
: 3- Who is Gary Kozak to sound off on the subject of shipwreck preservation? If my memory serves me right, this is the guy who systematically ripped apart the hull of the Dean Richmond in an obsessive search for a "treasure" of dubious value. With all due respects to Gary's skills and experience, who can take his observations on this particular subject seriously? Maybe our wrecks lack importance in the grand scheme of underwater archaeology and maritime history but as sole-surviviors of the wooden sail and steamship age, they are extremely important when documenting the history of the Great Lakes region. This is what spending too much time with Clive Cussler and his band of Merrie Olde Hacks from NUMA will do.
: 4- How will this bill affect U.S. divers visiting Canadian waters?
: 5- What is the state of the bill at this time?
: It is amusing to me that so many people seem to have been caught off guard with this proposal. Anyone who has taken a basic scuba course knows, thanks to dive instuctor "war stories" and dive shop window displays, that diving shipwrecks for the purpose of bringing stuff up is way cool. Impressions are formed right from the beginning, for crying out loud! I remember my instructor gleefully describing the trophys he'd retrieved from wrecks all over the Great Lakes - and this was during my basic scuba class 20 years ago! "Education, not legislation" is the key to preserving our cultural resorces. If we want to preserve our wrecks for future generations (as well we should), we need to start educating that generation today. Stop glorifying wreck-stripping in "how-to" books (Dan Berg immediately comes to mind), shop shelves & window displays, and macho dive stories aimed at new divers.
: Of course that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.