Editor:
BC Ferries CEO Mike Corrigan complains that by talking about excessive ferry fares and inadequate service, people are hurting our tourism industry (Coast Reporter, April 24).
He appears to have forgotten whom it is he serves.
BC Ferries’ primary responsibility is to provide critical public marine transportation services accessible to all British Columbians, including the tourism industry, but citizen and commercial transportation are priority one!
Corrigan takes issue with the BC Ferry Coalition’s call to return BC Ferries to some form of direct governmental control. He argues that prior to 2003 he saw political interference and bad decisions being made. He fails to recognize that coastal communities are living with the negative consequences of political interference and bad decisions by the provincial government.
A study commissioned by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities on BC Ferries found that excessive fare increases since 2003 have cost our province billions of dollars of lost economic activity. The quasi-private BC Ferries management model foists the operational costs of the ferry service onto the backs of ferry users, while we also pay our share of provincial highways and free inland ferries via taxes.
Corrigan says ‘putting BC Ferries back into government I don’t think solves the problem that lots of people want to solve, because ultimately … it comes down to funding,’ and he is correct. The failure of the provincial government to invest in our marine highways, in stark contrast to government investments in our paved highways, is the crux of the problem.
Corrigan’s comments suggest that the community message is getting through to him. The question remains, when will the message get through to Premier Christy Clark and Transportation Minister Todd Stone?
Only increased public pressure will cause the provincial government to change course, reduce fares and improve service on our marine highways.
Keep on talking, folks!
Jef Keighley and Ric Bills, co-chairs, BC Ferry Coalition
