I am writing the Richter Scale this month from the driver's seat of my car. Not to worry, though. I am safely aboard the Queen of Surrey, heading back to the Sunshine Coast after a weekend in the city.
I realize I am about six years late for the debate on privatizing the debt-ridden government agency. But six years on, we can now look back on what we might have gained or lost.
I think we can file accountability under things we have lost.
At a Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) meeting on June 4, directors lamented the provincial response to a series of requests from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). Two of the requests from UBCM were related to B.C. Ferries and were sponsored directly by the SCRD. The first request was for the province to allow local governments to have the ability to appoint members to the Ferry Advisory Committees (FAC).
In an official response to UBCM, the Ministry of Trans-portation and Infrastructure (MOTI) said because B.C. Ferries is a private corporation, it is not required to involve the provincial government in its FAC selection process.
A second and more important request from UBCM to the province was for the province to include B.C. Ferries in the B.C. Ombudsman's jurisdiction to investigate and resolve complaints of administrative unfairness by a public agency.
UBCM's argument pointed out that B.C. Ferries receives substantial public funding.
No dice, though. The response was similar.
"Under the Coastal Ferry Act, the Ombudsman Act does not apply to the B.C. Ferry Authority or to British Columbia Ferry Corporation after its conversion into a company."
Instead, the province's response points to the B.C. Ferry Commission as an independent regulator for the company.
The Ferry Commission's website, on its front page reads: "Please note that the Commission is not an ombudsperson acting on your behalf to resolve any private dispute you may have with the company, nor an advocate to help communities and particular interest groups to lobby government. It is not a general complaints or compliments bureau for B.C. Ferries."
So B.C. Ferries enjoys public subsidies to the tune of $25 million per year, but is located safely at arm's length from public accountability for its decisions or operations.
Meanwhile, fares for walk-on and drive-on passengers creep ever upward.
Look now to Keats and Gambier islanders who are being told their primary and in some cases only access to the Lower Coast at the Langdale float will be cut off by B.C. Ferries in four months' time. The original cut-off date was scheduled to be June 15. Were it not for the extension, those residents would be marooned - literally.
While the SCRD is actively pursuing a compromise with B.C. Ferries that would allow for continued use of the float, there does not seem to be a deal in sight.
We rely on the ferries to connect us with the Lower Mainland, to transport our food and consumer goods and to connect us with friends, family, careers and education that may not be available on the Coast. Yet with B.C. Ferries in private hands, those needs are secondary to their bottom line and to remaining insulated from accountability.
So, tongue-in-cheek, I am calling for a new public corporation. Let's call it B.C. Bridges.
