Editor:
On Friday, Nov. 10, I reached the Horseshoe Bay terminal prior to the last sailing to find my vehicle held outside the booth with a line of a dozen cars. I’d had a very stressful week. I’m a small businessman and to earn a living I have to serve clients off the Coast. It was a very important trip that coincided with the Friday of a long weekend. I was tired and had travelled several hours to get home.
On my way I monitored the ferry website to see it was running 30 minutes late. I made a quick stop at a late-night store to buy my kids a present. Meanwhile the last ferry overflowed. Our line of cars waited with no information or means of communication. After-hours, BC Ferries in Victoria does not answer their phone. The website is no use. There is no terminal supervisor to speak with and the staff are eager to go home.
A glimmer of hope as the booth opened and our line moved forward. A few cars are let in and then only red brake lights. Cars move slowly forward but turn right out the back gate. When it was my turn I asked why, since I was on time and this was my only highway home? There was no answer. I had to find a motel room.
The next morning I arrived at HSB ticket booth early for the first sailing. I expressed that I was not having a great morning because I’d been left behind last night. Before I could ask for advice on what to do, the female ticket agent said, “You choose to live there.” I was surprised and said, “What?” She repeated it again while adding that she chooses to live in the Lower Mainland and I choose to live “over there.” Her “suck it up” response has been on my mind ever since.
It’s true I chose to live here 20 years ago when our population was lower and BC Ferries was a different entity. I am proud to say I continue to choose to live here. This special place with its unique beauty stimulates my creativity and soothes my soul. I’ve become a member of this community and I have a kinship with many like-minded people who also choose this place.
This choice is all good until it is upset by BC Ferries. Apparently I did not read the legal fine print in the contract. It says the terminal manager had the choice that night to close my highway home. Up there in the dark booth overlooking Horseshoe Bay, I was not a person, but merely headlamps on the monitor. Based upon a first come/first served policy, the choice was simple to turn away the last few cars. That manager surely went home and probably had a peaceful sleep, while this tired father bringing home presents to his kids did not. The problem started months ahead when BC Ferries in Victoria chose to forecast the daily traffic and had no contingency plan for a long weekend. This policy is “first on/last screwed.” At the end of the day, BC Ferries is not part of a highway – it’s a business.
Scott Davis, Gibsons
