Powell River residents who made time to attend meetings about ferry service should feel good about the comments and questions posed to the provincial consultation team. Whether the effort results in any change won’t be known until sometime in the distant future.
Over 100 people attended the open house Monday night, November 19, while about 60 participated in a small group session earlier in the afternoon. Both meetings are part of the provincial government’s public consultation process about coastal ferry service.
Forecasts predict BC Ferries will see annual deficits of $56 million in the next five years. While the province has added $79.5 million through to 2016 to BC Ferries’ coffers, bringing the combined federal-provincial contribution to $180 million this year, it isn’t enough.
BC Ferry Commissioner Gordon Macatee conducted his own public consultation process before writing his January 2012 report, in which he indicated that all the key stakeholders—taxpayers, BC Ferries and ferry users—need to contribute to a solution for BC Ferries’ financial situation. He told the government it should consult with residents in coastal communities before it reduced service.
What Powell River residents told the consultation team yesterday was quite similar to what they told Macatee. Perhaps he thought it would be good for provincial government officials to hear the comments themselves, because the central role ferry service holds in the daily lives of residents couldn’t be clearer. As well, it’s clear that high ferry fares are negatively impacting businesses and choking the economic viability of our community.
The only question that remains is will the government listen. Coastal residents won’t know the answer until sometime after the provincial election in May. The government won’t reduce service before then, obviously.
Does that mean all the comments end up in a politically driven void, destined to die from a lack of action? Not necessarily. The structure itself is broken, as many people pointed out yesterday, and the provincial government will have to fix it, no matter which political party finds favour with voters next spring. All the comments from this round of public consultations will inform the decisions that inevitably have to be made.
