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Advocates call for swift reduction to ferry fares

Province confirms spring rollback and seniors discount on most BC Ferries routes
ferries
RAISED EXPECTATIONS: Ferry travellers will be waiting until spring to see lower fares after the new BC government moved quickly to remove tolls on Lower Mainland bridges this month. Chris Bolster photo

Advocates for reducing ferry fares say the BC government should move more quickly to keep its election promise of a less expensive marine highway for Sunshine Coast travellers.

Ferry customers will be waiting until April of next year before they see a fare reduction at BC Ferries’ toll booths, a spokesperson for BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has confirmed.

BC Ferry Coalition founder and former chair Jef Keighley said BC’s coastal communities, which virtually all elected either BC New Democratic Party or BC Green Party candidates in the recent election, should not have to wait until April for the reduction.

“It should be put in this fall,” said Keighley.

Last spring, the NDP vowed that, if elected, it would slash or freeze ferry fares and take a close look at BC Ferries operations.

According to the transportation ministry, the government is launching a comprehensive review of BC Ferries this fall and will reinstate free passenger fares on April 1 for seniors travelling Monday to Thursday.

Fares for all routes will be rolled back 15 per cent the same day, except for three routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, which will have their fares frozen.

“Changes will be introduced next fiscal year, the soonest time practical given the negotiations required between the ministry and BC Ferries,” said a ministry spokesperson.

Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons said because BC Ferries is not a Crown corporation, but operates under the Coastal Ferries Act as a quasi-public corporation, the government will have to enter into the negotiations with the ferry corporation before changes can be made.

“I’d like to see our reduction take place sooner, but it takes time to reverse 16 years of policies that saw fares climb and services suffer,” said Simons. “Contracts have to be respected and formulas need to be adjusted.”

Keighley, a retired Canadian Auto Workers union representative, said the NDP government is making the same excuses the previous Liberal government did on its inability to manage BC Ferries.

“They could direct BC Ferries to implement the 15 per cent discount and the senior's reduction overnight,” he said. “When the provincial government says to BC Ferries management that this is what it wants, all that is necessary is to make an adjustment to the contract. This is not a negotiation.”

Powell River Regional District Electoral Area C director Colin Palmer, who sits as a member of the Coastal Regional District Chairs ferry group, said he understands Keighley’s frustration.

“Everyone is upset because the impression was given that the reduction was going to happen almost immediately,” said Palmer. “Expectations were raised.”

Palmer said he doubts the NDP is backing away from making large changes to how the coastal ferries operate, but needs time to get it right.

On September 1, the provincial government eliminated tolls on the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges, which were promises in the NDP’s election platform to improve affordability in the province. The NDP estimated the change would save Lower Mainland commuters about $1,200 annually on average.

Removing bridge tolls was a relatively easier move to make as the province has direct control over the infrastructure, said Palmer.

Though tasked with reviewing the ferry corporation, transportation minister Claire Trevena is not legally the minister of the coastal ferries, he added.

“The only way she can become the minister of ferries is to get rid of the Coastal Ferry Act,” said Palmer, “and that’s not a five-minute job.”

Palmer said Trevena cannot stand up in the BC Legislature and say she wants to repeal the act without first performing the review and putting forward an alternative service model for coastal ferries.

He added that he is prepared to be patient and “accept the fact that there’s a good chance she’s going to get rid of the act, but she can’t do it overnight.”

According to the transportation ministry, the scope of the review will be made available in the coming weeks.