The following letter was sent to B.C. Ferries president Mike Corrigan and copied to Coast Reporter.
On Jan. 20 my 88-year-old mother Jean McKeating of Gibsons was discharged from Lion's Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, where on Jan. 9 she had had her leg removed just above the knee.
Settled in a fairly cramped position in the front seat of my car at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal and with me first showing and then handing my medical transport form from the hospital, we were refused admission to board the 11:20 a.m. ferry because of being there eight minutes before boarding time closed instead of the mandatory 10 minutes.
If a "merciful time allowance" of two minutes had been granted, my mother, instead of enduring pain and misery in the car seat (unable to use any amenities what so ever) would have been home in a hospital bed, which had been placed in our home ready for her imminent arrival.
B.C. Ferries is a "service industry" and without vehicles and passengers would not exist. We the users are the bread and butter so to speak.
Having spent my working years in the service industry, I am aware of the demands our work requires. Persons manning the toll booths at ferry terminals all over B.C. are the 'front line' hospitality workers and as such, I'm sure, are hired to be efficient, pleasant, humane and helpful.
The principles of the Golden Rule may always be applied no matter how "busy" the situation and there can always be exceptions to every "rule" -however, I feel that at the Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal on Jan. 20, only enforcing one rule or another was considered.
Nicki Sawatski
Gibsons
