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Petition already sunk

Opinion

The provincial legislature was abuzz on Tuesday when independent MLA Vicki Huntington tabled a 22,000-signature petition calling for the provincial government to take back BC Ferries.

Powell River resident Laural Eacott spearheaded the petition drive, saying the continual rising ferry fares prompted her into action. She said the system is simply not working, and she was hoping the large groundswell of support she received would turn a few heads and sway a few opinions.

Not so much.

Despite her efforts and the efforts of many other residents, area politicians and other activists who have been lobbying for the past year, the petition sunk pretty quickly when handed over to Transportation Minister Todd Stone.

Although he was impressed with the number of signatures and said he respects the concerns of residents in ferry-dependent communities, he and his ministry have no plans to change course.

Stone is sticking with the “vision” he laid out last year that is focused on a wide array of different measures to ensure ferries are affordable and sustainable.

But whatever Stone and Ferries are doing, we certainly haven’t seen much change since last year’s Coast-wide ferry protests, or the lengthy town hall meetings that were held up and down the Coast by the ministry to get residents’ feedback. Everything that has been said — including this petition — just continues to fall on deaf ears.

Want more proof of the lack of change in direction? Then look no further than the financial numbers released earlier this month.

BC Ferries reported $6.1 million in losses for its last quarter (October to December), which translated into about half the loss it incurred for the same period last year.

So the bottom line is not looking too rosy, is it?

And at the same time these financial numbers were released, the corporation announced a new chief financial officer (CFO) would be starting in April. This added management position is on top of current CFO Robert Clark deferring his retirement to take on a new role steering e-commerce programs and information technology upgrades, which, according to the company, are critical to its long-term success.

So instead of management getting leaner, we now have more management and more salaries. Does anyone else see the problems with this?

Where is this vision to make the ferry service leaner and meaner, Minister Stone?