Provincial Transpor-tation Minister Blair Lekstrom has quietly re-jected B.C. Ferries' proposal to cut up to 400 round-trip sailings from its schedule to cope with growing losses, Business in Vancouver has learned.
Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall con-firmed the province re-jected the proposal late last month, but didn't pro-vide details as to why it was rejected.
According to Marshall, B.C. Ferries had been waiting or the commissioner's then yet-to-be-released report (see B.C. Ferries, page 1) and directed questions about the decision to the B.C. Ferry Commission.
Despite B.C. Ferries' con-firmation that its propos-al to cut sailings had been turned down, a Ministry of Transportation spokes-person maintained that no decision had been made and that the minister was waiting for the commis-sioner's review, due later this month, before it made any decisions about ser-vice cuts.
"No decision will be made on service reduc-tions until the province has had a chance to review these recommendations," the spokesperson said.
But, through a freedom of information request, BIV has obtained a copy of for-mer B.C. Ferries president and CEO David Hahn's confidential proposal to the minister outlining what sailings were to be cut, when and how much the corpora-tion expected to save.
According to a plan dated September 22, 2011, the corporation proposed "immediately" cutting 94 round trips over the next nine months on major routes between Vancouver and Victoria, and between Nanaimo and Vancouver.
B.C. Ferries hoped the in-itial cuts, to begin Oct. 1, 2011, would save the or-ganization $717,000.
"If ridership worsens, we would then pursue further reductions," Hahn wrote to Lekstrom.
In a second proposal, B.C. Ferries tabled a plan to cut 387 round trips for a total savings of $2.7 million.
The sailing reductions were part of a strategy to help the company stem its losses amid multi-decade low passenger and vehicle counts, but business owners complained that the cuts would erode their ability to ship goods between the mainland and Vancouver Island.
Hahn announced the proposal last August and at the time was reported to have said the cuts would af-fect only Friday and Sunday extra sailings during the off-season.
However, the application revealed the cuts would ex-tend to August 31, 2012, well into the busy summer season.
The plan also proposed fewer sailings on Thursdays and Saturdays and a reduc-tion in the number of ex-tra round trips planned for Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays and spring break.
Marshall said Hahn had only "indicated" that, in large measure, the reduc-tions wouldn't affect the summer schedule.
"He had also indicated that if B.C. Ferries did re-duce its service and the traffic volumes picked up, that those sailing reduc-tions would be put back into the schedule if traffic warranted," said Marshall.
NDP transportation critic Gary Coons said the document reveals the "real story" behind B.C. Ferries' proposal.
"There has always been a real disconnect with what B.C. Ferries has said then done over the last six to sev-en years," Coons wrote in an email. "The whole ferry system, since the B.C. Lib-erals initiated their failed privatization model, has been in disarray. We need leadership and decisive action from this govern-ment to try to save what we have left of a marine highway."
