Despite many protests up and down the BC coast, a major effort by all ferry advisory committees, and a coalition of chambers of commerce from affected communities with the fiscal fairness campaign committee, the province is moving ahead with proposed service cuts to BC Ferries.
Todd Stone, transportation and infrastructure minister, announced Wednesday, February 5, that the Liberal government is pressing ahead with its plans to make the $18.9 million in service cuts affecting what the government describes as minor and northern routes.
Stone said the service cuts start April 28, and that the government is also moving forward with its plan to stop a seniors’ discount by April 1. Starting April 1, BC Ferries will charge seniors half-price passenger fares Monday through Thursday instead of covering the full cost of their passenger fare.
The government and BC Ferries have tried to lessen the impact of cuts on tourism traffic on the Bella Coola route with increased sailings in the summer, but are placing a smaller vessel in service there.
BC Ferries intends to implement another engagement campaign to solicit feedback from the public on how best to implement the new changes it is going forward with. In a news release issued Wednesday, February 5, BC Ferries announced it intends to solicit public opinion through online and telephone surveys. Specifics on how to complete the surveys will be released next week.
“Now that the province has made their final determination on service levels, BC Ferries needs to move forward to implement schedule adjustments,” said Mike Corrigan, president and CEO of BC Ferries. “We want to work with the communities we serve on the sailing schedule refinement options to ensure the optimal sailing times are determined while still achieving the net savings outlined by the province.”
Powell River Chamber of Commerce reacted to the announcements by calling the confirmation of cuts the “Ghost Town Agenda,” in its news release. Jack Barr, chamber president, said, “Today’s announcement by transport minister Stone confirming rate hikes and route cuts to the BC Ferry system will create ghost towns along the coast of BC, the Gulf Islands and parts of Vancouver Island. Calling this ‘sustainable’ is a cruel way to indicate that the government is out of touch with the reality of their own economy.”
Barr heads up the Fiscal Fairness Campaign, which has drawn support from most of the chambers of commerce on the coast and many around the province.
For more information, readers can view the full news release from the ministry of transportation and BC Ferries’ news release.
