The leaders of 11 coastal regional districts and the Islands Trust, together representing 70 per cent of the British Columbian population, got an ear with the provincial government at last week's Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Vancouver.
The regional district chairs, including Sunshine Coast Regional District board chair Garry Nohr, met with Premier Christy Clark and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom.
The meeting was the third in recent months. The chairs met with Lekstrom in July and B.C. Ferry commissioner Gord Macatee has also visited several B.C. communities, including Gibsons, to meet with residents as he continues to put together his report on the state of B.C. Ferries for Lekstrom's review.
"The meeting with the premier and Minister Lekstrom was very positive and was an excellent example of the regional governments of coastal B.C. coming together in one voice to tell the premier that major improvements to the coastal ferry service are an imperative," said Colin Palmer, chair of the Powell River Regional District and chair of the Coastal RD Chairs group. "We are confident that the premier heard that the coastal ferry service is our marine highway and that the three million British Columbians we represent need it fixed as soon as possible."
Nohr, too, said the meeting was positive.
"The discussion on ferry rates and the way ferries should operate were highlights," Nohr said. "We were not asking her to go back to 2003 under control of MOTI, but to look at certain parts of it being MOTI and the other parts being run by the ferry corporation, including a new governance model."
Nohr said Clark has decided to meet with that group again, probably in January or February after the commissioner's report comes out. Clark said she expects the commissioner's report to come out before Christmas.
"Basically I think she hadn't been tuned up well enough on what had been going on between that group and the minister over the last period of time, so she said she would rather wait until the information comes out from the ferry commissioner," added Nohr. "She expects that before Christmas and then she would like to hear those chairs' input in January or February."
