BC’s government, in its evaluation of fixed-link scenarios for the Sunshine Coast, outlines how a road link from Squamish or a bridge link via Anvil Island would be worse or much worse, or better or much better, than the current ferry system.
While the upsides would be “travel-time reliability,” access to emergency services and a host of supposed economic benefits, including higher real estate prices and a bigger population, the downsides would be reduced traffic safety and accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians, adverse impact on air quality, marine resources and the environment in general, and adverse impact on “population-supporting infrastructure,” private property, Aboriginal rights and archaeological resources.
So, there is a formidable list of downsides to escape the subgrade ferry service that the provincial government has imposed on us. Why, then, is the same government spending $250,000 on this preliminary study and potentially hundreds of thousands more if it decides more detailed study is required?
In its backgrounder, the government claims that, “various Sunshine Coast community leaders and stakeholders are increasingly advocating” for a fixed link. Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons has a problem with that claim, correctly pointing out that it is a “fairly creative” way for the government to interpret “our complaints, or our issues, around ferry service and affordability.”
But when asked about the claim in Sechelt on Wednesday, October 26, West Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy, the government’s point man on the fixed-link file, defended it, insisting that his office has received “quite a number of solicitations.” We don’t know who these solicitors are, because the only public advocates for a fixed link have been a gaggle of Internet keyboard warriors who fiercely attack anyone suggesting the whole thing is a distraction.
We do know that local politicians have asked for cost comparisons, in light of the hopeless ferry service, but that’s not the same as advocating, and it is something ministry officials could have done without high-priced consultants, dogs and ponies.
What is puzzling, and perhaps downright fishy, is that the BC government cannot find a few million dollars to make ferries affordable and reliable, and yet we’re expected to believe that it might, just might, cough up $2.5 billion for a fixed link.
I don’t expect this issue to be decided before next spring’s provincial election, but I do expect it to be abandoned shortly thereafter.
John Gleeson is the editor of the Coast Reporter, based in Sechelt.
