May 3, 1999
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

The following statement was issued today by Charles Furey, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador has much to offer a tourist. From learning about the Basque Whaling Site in Red Bay, Labrador to taking in the musical and storytelling talents of the St. John's Folk Festival, one of the oldest festivals in the province, to visiting L'Anse aux Meadows, the only authenticated Viking site in North America, our province is rich in its culture and heritage.

The Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation is continuing to develop private and public partnerships in an effort to further advance the development of the province's tourism product. One area where there is great potential is the investigation and interpretation of our ship wrecks. Our history derives from the ocean and as a result has experienced many sea disasters over hundreds of years. While always tragic, these ship wrecks provide archaeologists and historians with valuable information on our marine heritage. Thousands of these sites lie off our shores.

Many of these ship wrecks are threatened through the passage of time, actions of the sea and looting of artifacts. As a result, much of this valuable information is lost for all time, as is the opportunity to study, interpret and develop important aspects of our maritime heritage. One shipwreck which has tremendous development potential to increase public awareness of this heritage and to become a major tourist attraction is the H.M.S. Saphire.

The H.M.S. Saphire sank in Bay Bulls Harbour during an engagement with a French squadron on September 11, 1696. This is one of Canada's earliest shipwrecks and is the only vessel of its size that sunk in Newfoundland during the English/French conflict over control of the cod fisheries. Thousands of artifacts were recovered from the shipwreck site during two archaeological investigations in the 1970s, providing us with knowledge of life on-board a vessel during the 17th century and, indeed, adding to our knowledge of life in general during that time. The value of the H.M.S. Saphire to our cultural heritage has already been acknowledged through its designation as a Provincial Historic Site in 1975.

Because of the significance of this wreck, I am pleased to be able to inform honourable members that the government has committed $25,000 for the completion of a feasibility study relating to the establishment of an H.M.S. Saphire Interpretation Centre in the community of Bay Bulls. I am also pleased to inform honourable members that Mr. Cle Newhook and Mr. Don Beaubier have been elected as interim company principles for the H.M.S. Saphire Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation set up to oversee research and development pertaining to the shipwreck. The foundation has hired Axis Consulting Inc. to complete the feasibility study. It is expected that the study will take several months at which time the findings will be presented to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation and the H.M.S. Saphire Foundation.

1999 05 03 3:20 p.m.