Representatives from eight coastal regional districts met with BC Ferries Commissioner Gordon Macatee on Tuesday, August 9, to discuss ferry services.
Headed by Powell River Regional District chair Colin Palmer, the group gathered in Victoria to express concerns over coastal services and talk about options for improvements.
“We felt that our concerns were acknowledged,” said Palmer. “However, the Coastal Regional District chairs are asking for such fundamental improvements of the Coastal Ferry Act, that we will continue looking at policy options and recommendations and will present these to the minister of transportation and infrastructure and the premier.”
The chairs are working on a position paper that will outline their recommendations for revamping the coastal ferry service and increasing the amount of oversight. The group expects to present a final version at the annual Union of BC Municipalities conference in Vancouver in September.
“It was a positive meeting, where the regional district representatives provided thoughtful information and ideas to assist the commission with its review of the Coastal Ferries Act,” wrote Macatee in an email to the Peak. “We’ll be considering what we heard when we begin to draft our recommendations to the minister, at the beginning of November.”
Town hall meetings between the commissioner and coastal communities have been scheduled leading up to the commissioner’s review of the act, expected in 2012. Macatee will be in Powell River at 8 pm on Thursday, September 8, at Town Centre Hotel.
