Increasing ferry fees are hurting coastal economies, according to Sunshine Coast Regional District chair Garry Nohr, who joined other district chairs to bring forward concerns at a July 19 meeting with Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Blair Lekstrom.
"He [Lekstrom] listened to all the chairs speak and each one sort of came across in the same way about how B.C. Ferries' up-going rates are stopping economic development or actually pulling businesses out of the communities because they can't afford the ferry costs to keep themselves viable," Nohr said.
The meeting was organized by Colin Palmer, chair of the Powell River Regional District, and included nine regional district chairs and vice chairs from coastal communities including the Sunshine Coast, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Victoria and Bella Coola.
Nohr said all the chairs had the same message for Lekstrom -improve the service and stop increasing ferry fees.
"It is significant to see nine diverse regional districts come together with a clear message for the province: improve coastal ferry service in B.C.," said Palmer. "We know that fares have been escalating since the BC Coastal Ferry Act was put in place in 2003. We also know that families and businesses in each of our regions -from those on small islands to those in the Metro Vancouver and Victoria areas -are being impacted by increases. We need to ensure that coastal British Columbian families and businesses can survive. As a group, our collective intent is to support the minister in consideration of all options to improve coastal ferry service."
While Sunshine Coast politicians and advisory groups have been complaining about rising ferry rates for some time without any changes coming about, Nohr said this recent meeting was different.
"Basically this time it was the chairs of all the regional districts that are affected by B.C. Ferries on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. And the statement was that we're prepared to work with the government to try to come up with some good suggestions and ideas to make it [B.C. Ferries] more functional. The minister was quite impressed with that even though we were griping quite a bit," Nohr said.
While many issues were raised, the number one complaint was the cost of using the ferry service, which some said should be considered an extension of our highways and funded in the same way.
"We kept stating we cannot keep increasing costs. We must have said that four or five times, so we've got to come up with other options to make it work," Nohr said.
The district chairs will have the chance to discuss the fare issue further when they meet with the new B.C. Ferry commissioner Gordon Macatee this Monday, Aug. 8.
Macatee will be putting together a report on ferry service this year, and Nohr is pleased the Sunshine Coast will have some input into the paper.
"The last time they did a report was in 2003 and it was just about ferries. This time the commissioner is going around and finding out what effects on the communities come about by these changes. So basically, I guess, we're the first to really get to talk to him, and we'll probably say a lot of the same stories that we told the minister," Nohr said.
The nine regional district chairs have also requested a meeting with the premier to discuss their concerns and the group has offered to "continue to be part of the essential improvements to the coastal ferry service in British Columbia."
