BC Ferries commissioner Gord Macatee will be coming to Powell River and Texada Island for public meetings on Thursday, September 8 and Friday, September 9 as he travels the coast talking to communities as a part of his review of the Coastal Ferries Act.
At 8 pm at the Town Centre Hotel in Powell River the public is welcome to come to a meeting with Macatee to discuss and give comment on BC Ferries service that Macatee will listen to and then use in his review. Macatee is meeting with ferry committee stakeholders at 5 pm, before hearing the public later that evening. Texada Island residents are being encouraged to attend a meeting with the commissioner at 12:30 pm the following day at the Royal Canadian Legion in Van Anda.
In May Macatee announced an in-depth review amidst numbers indicating diminishing ridership and ever-increasing fares. To help the review the provincial government has established an interim price cap of 4.15 per cent for all routes for 2012/13 and has given the commissioner the resources “to recommend changes to better balance the interest of ferry users with the financial sustainability of BC Ferries,” according to the commission’s website.
Colin Palmer, chair of Powell River Regional District and leader of a group of coastal regional district chairs who have been meeting with government officials to discuss ferry service, hopes that lots of people come out to not only tell the commissioner their concerns but to suggest solutions.
“When he comes to Powell River, he’s not the enemy. He’s not part of the problem, he’s part of the answer,” said Palmer. “It might not be enough just to tell him to get rid of the act. People might want to give him explanations as to what they recommend.”
Northern Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee chair Bill Cripps said that in two meetings with the commissioner he has found him to listen intently and genuinely participate in the conversation.
“I feel pretty good about the review and about the scope of the review and certainly the manner in which he is conducting it,” said Cripps. “I encourage people to come out and be prepared to talk about what’s happening with them as a result of the ferries.”
The review comes just as BC Ferries announced a $5.5 million net loss in its first quarter of this fiscal year and a projected loss for the entire year that has risen from $20 million to $35 million. The losses are being attributed to the lowest passenger traffic in 20 years and the lowest vehicle traffic in 11 years for the quarter. BC Ferries is now considering cutting up to 400 sailings from major routes, potentially including the Langdale to Horseshoe Bay run, to help recover costs.
Palmer believes that high fares are to blame for the low ridership and said that cuts to staff or service by BC Ferries might help the corporation to deal with the loss but will not increase revenue.
“I wouldn’t advise anybody in Powell River to breathe a sigh of relief with that one,” said Palmer. “It’s a bit like the Titanic hitting the iceberg and you start throwing the crew overboard and throwing the coal overboard to lighten the ship. It’s not going to do anything.”
The collective of regional district chairs are meeting again on Friday, September 2 in Nanaimo to discuss a draft position paper that Palmer has drawn up for the group. Palmer said the draft is rough but will provide a good starting point for the group to come up with some solid recommendations that they can then bring to minister of transportation and infrastructure Blair Lekstrom and Premier Christy Clark.
(Note: The venue for the public meeting with the BC Ferries commissioner has been changed to the Evergreen Theatre.)
