Dive Shorts WEXFORD DISCOVERED: In late September and early October a group of divers from across the province were invited to take part in a very special Lake Huron dive. The guests were among the very first people to see the remains of the recently discovered shipwreck Wexford. The Wexford is the last of the eight freighters lost in the Great Storm of November to be rediscovered. She was found in 85 feet of water 21/2 hours out from the port of Goderich. The Wexford was built in 1883 and carried cargo up and down the Great Lakes for over three decades. She is reported to have been 75 metres long and 12 meters wide. In November 1913 the Wexford was caught in an early winter storm that sank a number of large Great Lakers including the Price and Regina. Up until this summer, the whereabouts of the Wexford was not known. It took three attempts before the conditions were right for the divers to see the Wexford. DIVER Magazine sent a photographer on the first expedition, but, the dive boat didn't leave the dock. The October 3 dive was successful although organizers were upset to find that despite their best efforts to keep the location of the wreck secret, unknown divers had removed several important artifacts from the remains of the Wexford. DATE SET: The Niagara Dive Association has set a date for its annual one day wreck festival. Shipwrecks 2001 will be held in Niagara Falls on March 24, 2001. The club has posted information about the show on their website at: www.vaxxine.com/ndadiver Diver Dick passes away: ScubaRadio, a popular Internet radio station announced last month that one of its two co-hosts, Dick Sheetz, had died of cancer. Sheetz was known to his listeners as Diver Dick. The remaining host, Gregg the Dive Master, is continuing with the show. ScubaRadio is based in Florida and keeps divers up-to-date on new products, dive sites and dive operations. The weekly program is broadcast on the Internet at http://www.scubaradio.com/scuba.htm. Club for Toronto scuba divers. Toronto's largest ski club is going underwater. The High Park Ski Club has formed the High Park Scuba Club. Dedicated to training, day trips, dive travel, equipment swaps and pairing up dives, the new club is now recruiting members on its website at: http://www.highparkscubaclub.cjb.net. Bill 13 - The Saga Continues It was a who's who of the Canadian diving world. Representatives from PADI, TDI, ACUC, the Niagara Dive Association, the Ontario Underwater Council (OUC), the Save Ontario Shipwreck and DIVER Magazine came to the Ontario parliament buildings in Toronto last month to talk to the Government about diving. The Province of Ontario is currently studying a private members bill that has been introduced to preserve Ontario's Marine Heritage and to promote underwater tourism. The bill, written by Conservative MPP Toby Barrett, has passed second reading and is now in the committee stage. The Standing Committee on General Government held two afternoon sessions where members of the dive community were allowed to comment on the proposed bill. Over the course of two days dive training agencies, dive associations, dive clubs, dive charter boat operators, individual divers and DIVER Magazine, presented briefs to the Province. A total 14 briefs were presentednone of them supported the wording of the bill. "We believe that marine heritage should not be limited to shipwrecks. Submerged locks, villages and railways, fur trade portage routes and underwater construction sites might also be historically significant," Julien LeBourdias, the OUC Director of Special Events, told the MPPs. "We believe this bill is a good place to start but it needs to be more encompassing to adequately protect the interests of all Ontarians." As reported in past issues of DIVER Magazine, the Bill, which has already been amended two times, is proposing that many Ontario shipwrecks be made off-limits to divers. As well, divers will need to get permits to dive other shipwrecks in Ontario waters. "As tourist divers we are concerned that access to the list of known heritage sites will become fundamental. Moreover, the need for licenses to dive the heritage wrecks will discourage most, if not all tourist divers," said Roger Lacasse. Lacasse, the Administrator of the Fédération Québécoise des Activités Subaquatiques, flew into Toronto to express the concerns of Quebec divers. "The FQAS recommends to the Standing Committee on General Government of Ontario to put Bill 13 aside until a proper consultation of the diving community can be held." It is unlikely that the Provincial Government will rush Bill 13 into its final reading. The reason? Although the dive community is opposed to the Bill, what is concerning the province is the Federal Government's Canadian Shipping Act (the CSA). It appears as though both the Federal CSA and the proposed Ontario Bill 13 lay ownership claim on many of the same shipwrecks. The CSA is to be updated by the Federal Government and privately the Provincial Government is saying they will wait until that Act has been amended before proceeding with Barrett's Bill. What has muddied the water even further is that at press deadline the Federal Government is toying with calling an election. If there is an election, all CSA amendments will die on the legislative table! Editor's Note: Just as Diver Magazine was going to press, our associate editor Stephen Weir, spoke to MPP Stephen Gilchrist, the chairman of the Province's Standing Committee on General Government. "We have asked Mr. Barrett (the MPP who originally proposed Bill 13) to put this bill on hold and meet with everyone in the dive community. We want him to come up with recommendations that everyone can live with," said Gilchrist. "We don't want him to withdraw the bill. It is a private members bill and obviously, you only get one kick at the can with one of these," he continued. "We can take (what is decided at the proposed hearing) and work them into Bill 13." DIVER Magazine also spoke to Toby Barrett who said that he hoped the dive community would meet soon. He also said that he would be willing to attend those meetings, even though, he admitted, that his knowledge of wreck diving was limited.