A letter copied to the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) suggests B.C.’s transportation minister isn’t interested in going forward with a formal working group on BC Ferries, and SCRD chair Garry Nohr says it may be for the best.
Nohr has been active with the coastal regional district chairs who would have formed the core of the proposed working group, which would also have included First Nations representatives, provincial ministers and officials, members from the ferry advisory committees, and officials from BC Ferries.
Draft terms of reference for the working group were circulated earlier this year. They set out two main goals: “to achieve collaborative options that will ensure the sustainability of coastal communities as well as the ferry service,” and “to mitigate negative impacts to coastal community social and economic hardships.”
In a response dated June 3, Transportation Minister Todd Stone said, “It appears that several of the deliverables stated in the terms of reference are intended to revisit decisions that have already been made by the provincial government. As the province supports the existing coastal ferry model, we respect the roles and responsibilities ascribed to the province, BC Ferries and the BC Ferry Commission in the Coastal Ferry Act. As BC Ferries is responsible for determining its own fare structure, capital planning and financing, as well as business planning processes, stakeholders would need to discuss these matters with the company directly.”
Stone goes on to say that under those terms of reference the working group would be “too broad to result in a constructive dialogue.”
Nohr agrees with that assessment. He told Coast Reporter a more narrowly focused approach would offer a better chance to have Sunshine Coast issues heard. “If I were part of a big working group I’d probably hardly get a chance to speak,” Nohr said.
“As [the proposed working group] expanded, it seemed like there were more and more things being suggested to work on,” said Nohr. “And a lot of that stuff had been done with the [ferry] commissioner and the [ferry] advisory committees.”
Stone is leaving the door open to future meetings with local government representatives, and Nohr says the regional district chairs will continue their coordinated effort to get the government’s ear.
Nohr said he expects they’ll have a chance to sit down with the minister sometime after September’s Union of BC Municipalities AGM.
