BC Ferries Coalition organizer Jef Keighley travelled to Powell River Tuesday, January 7, to finalize plans to include Powell River in a demonstration against BC Ferries. The demonstration, slated to take place January 18, will see the entire coast highway become the staging ground for what has become a massive protest against planned schedule cuts and fare increases.
Over the last 10 to 12 years, since the BC government restructured BC Ferries, ferry fares have risen considerably on the Sunshine Coast. Treasurer for Powell River Chamber of Commerce, Cory Carr, explained that the steady degradation of both the level and quality of services has already severely impacted the community.
“The current structure of BC Ferries, introduced in 2002, was designed to keep fares affordable, service high and the company sustainable,” Carr said. “None of those objectives were achieved. It’s time we realize that the experiment did not work, and change is necessary.”
Keighley travelled to Powell River with Gary Nohr, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair, to meet with City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa and Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons to look at how the coalition demonstration can grow from Lower Sunshine Coast through Powell River.
Coalition advocate Jill Wight said the basis for the debate is broadening. “Now more than ever there is need for organization. People are paying attention, the news media is paying attention. Jef Keighley is in Powell River meeting with...key individuals, to see how to best move forward and decide on key planning details in advance of the protest.”
“It’s important we communicate this to the rest of the province—how important this is,” said Nohr. “They have their roads; we have a marine highway.”
The plan is for protesters to line Highway 101 at nine separate locations between Gibsons and Earls Cove for one hour starting at noon on Saturday, January 18.
Participants are being asked to bring personalized letters to Premier Christy Clark, which will be collected by SCRD directors at the nine gathering spots along the highway.
The protests will be set up at Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Wilson Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay, Madeira Park, Garden Bay Road, Ruby Lake and Egmont Road.
The event will focus on the Sunshine Coast, but will be part of a broader outreach to other coastal communities hit by planned service cuts. Details about how the protest will play out starting at Saltery Bay and north into Powell River and up to Lund are yet to be decided.
The goal, said Keighley, who is also chair of Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens, is to “help build the coast-wide movement that will be necessary to convince the province to get off their dead-end path with their quasi-privatized BC Ferries corporate model.”
Nohr said he has already contacted other regional district chairs, who have expressed interest in coordinating events, and shíshálh (Sechelt) Nation Chief Garry Feschuk has offered to work with other first nations on Vancouver Island and the mainland.
“There’s not a single community that isn’t completely aghast at what’s going on,” said Keighley, whose group is trying to build a “fair ferry coalition” by rallying support from labour councils, churches, sports organizations, local government bodies and chambers of commerce.
“No one’s asking for free ferries,” he added. “We’ll pay the operating costs through reasonable fares.”
Other ideas being considered for the coastal campaign include petitions, selective boycotts of BC Ferries sailings or onboard services, and coordinated rallies in Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo.
“We feel that the only responsible solution for government is to return management of BC Ferries to the ministry of transportation and infrastructure,” said Carr. “We need to return it to its mandate of providing affordable, reliable transportation to the coastal communities. The ferry system is never going to be a profit-generating form of transportation, nor should it be. It’s always going to be part of our marine highway and government needs to manage it that way.”
For more information, readers can visit the BC Ferries Coalition website at www.bcferrycoalition.com.
~ With files from John Gleeson, Coast Reporter
