The Trial Island lighthouse off Victoria is said to be slated for automation as the coast guard looks to cut expenses. (CBC)

Opposition continues to mount against the Canadian Coast Guard's latest plan to save money by removing staff from four more lighthouses on the West Coast.

Community leaders in the Strathcona Regional District sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week, urging him to stop the "ill-conceived lighthouse de-staffing plan before it goes any further."

The proposal reportedly calls for four lighthouses at Entrance Island near Nanaimo, Trial Island off Victoria, Cape Mudge on Quadra Island and Dryad Point north of Bella Bella to be automated as several of the lightkeepers retire.

Twenty-seven of the more than 50 lighthouses on the West Coast are still staffed, and the rest are automated.

Among those fighting the new round of automation is Jim Abram, a Quadra Island resident and former president of the Lightkeepers Union, who led the fight that eventually halted the previous round of de-staffing in the 1990s.

Opponents of automation have long argued that lighthouse keepers provide valuable help in search and rescue operations, weather reporting and monitoring of the critical navigational lights. The coast guard has argued the lightkeepers are no longer necessary to run the lights.

MP opposed earlier automation

Abram said he's expecting help from John North, the Vancouver Island North Conservative MP, who helped fight the previous automation plan under the Liberal government in the 1990s.

"He has been very supportive of stopping the de-staffing of light stations in the past, and I expect him to do the same this time," Abram said.

"People are always saying we need to have somebody in government for our wishes to be conveyed to government. Well, that's exactly what I'm expecting from John — to take this directly to the prime minister and say, 'Stop the commissioner. Stop this nonsense.'"

And on Friday, Duncan did re-enter the debate, saying little has changed since the earlier battles.

"We all collaborated with one thing in mind, which was to keep the staffing at the light station," he said. "And I don't believe that the arguments have changed very much in the meantime.

"I think the B.C. coast is a remote place and having personnel located along our remote coast is a very positive thing."

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea is taking the matter seriously, and there will be a government response to the coast guard's de-staffing proposal, Duncan said.

With a federal election looming, both Duncan and his fellow MPs are aware that lighthouse automation could once again become an important issue on the West Coast.