Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ADAM OLSEN – While the provincial government scrambled to address the impacts of the pandemic across the province, BC Ferries were left to fend for themselves

The provincial government is responsible for the provincial transportation network ... including our ferry system ... the critical service connecting coastal communities. That is why the BC Greens advocate for BC Ferries to be brought back into government.

The ferries system connects us to our homes, our businesses and our communities. They are critical for the economic survival of coastal British Columbia. When an issue with the BC Ferries service arises, it is usually followed by an immediate and visceral reaction from the public.

With at least a third of our provincial economy linked by our marine highways, the provincial government must ensure that the service is robust, reliable, convenient and affordable. This is a message I have heard consistently from my constituents in Saanich North and the Islands and across British Columbia.

BC Ferries was deeply impacted when Dr. Bonnie Henry responded to the COVID-19 global pandemic by asking people to stay home and ordering strict social distancing measures. Their revenue plummeted with the restrictions on non-essential travel and the dramatically reduced ferry schedules.

While the provincial government scrambled to address the impacts of the pandemic across the province, BC Ferries were left to fend for themselves.

To maintain the critical service the corporation had little choice but to turn to their reserves. I am deeply concerned about their ability to maintain a modern ferry service without those funds for important capital projects like vessel renewal and terminal upgrades.

Thankfully the federal government’s $1 billion contribution, that must be matched dollar-for-dollar by the province, will provide some financial relief for the ferries service. However, it’s not before hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent.

I raised this issue with the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Honourable Claire Travena, more than a month ago. It’s likely that a generation’s worth of capital investments in the ferry service are gone and it’s unlikely that any of the recently announced funding will replenish the reserve accounts of the corporation.

The extent of the damage that BC Ferries has sustained as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear. 

With the potential of a second wave this fall there may be choppy waters ahead and BC Ferries can not afford further losses of revenue.

I appreciate the federal government stepping up and including the BC Ferries as an eligible transit service for their recovery funds. It means the provincial government is also now on the hook for investing further resources in keeping this critical service operating.

Our ferry system is a critical part of our provincial transportation network, they are marine highways, and despite the current complex governance structure they are squarely a provincial responsibility.

The provincial government has to take responsibility for BC Ferries once again to ensure the long-term viability of the critical service keeping our coast connected.

Adam Olsen ... is the interim leader of the BC Green Party, and the MLA for Saanich North and the Islands

Labels:

Comments

  1. John TwiggAugust 25, 2020 at 3:28 PM

    BC Ferry Corp. began as a prov govt entity when W.A.C. Bennett was Premier but it shifted to an arm's-length private corporation when Bill Vander Zalm was Premier and Mel Couvelier was Minister of Finance - which was done so BC Ferry Corp's capital costs could be deducted from federal taxes since Ottawa at the time was reluctant to help pay for a provincially-owned business even though it was part of the trans-continental highway system. Semi-privatizing B.C. Ferries has had mixed results. The feds should help pay for it. Google this: "Are Canadian maritime ferry services subsidized by the federal government?" - and you'll see the Atlantic provinces get huge subsidies from Ottawa for their ferry services but B.C. gets only small help - until a recent handout related to Covid.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Budget 2027: After a Decade of Decline, NDP Budget Delivers an Assault on Seniors, Working Families, and Small Businesses

Peter Milobar, BC Conservative Finance Critic, condemned the NDP government’s latest budget as the result of a decade of decline that has left British Columbians broke, unsafe, and paying more for less.   “After ten years of NDP mismanagement, this budget is an assault on seniors, working families, and the small businesses that drive our economy,” said Milobar. “The NDP have turned their back on the people working hardest to make ends meet and the seniors who built this province.” Milobar pointed to a new $1.1 billion annual income tax increase and warned that the government is piling new costs onto households already struggling with affordability.   “This government keeps asking British Columbians for more, while delivering less,” Milobar said. “The question people are asking is simple: Where has all the money gone?” Milobar noted that BC has gone from a surplus in the first year of NDP government to a projected deficit of more than $13 billion this year, while prov...
Post a Comment
Read more

FORSETH – My question is, ‘How do we decide who is blue enough to be called a Conservative?’

How do we decide who’s blue enough to be a Conservative? AS OF TODAY (Friday January 30 th ), there are now eight individuals who have put their names forward to lead the Conservative Party of British Columbia. Having been involved with BC’s Conservatives since 2010, and having seen MANY ups and downs, having 8 people say “I want to lead the party” is to me, an incredible turn-around from the past. Sadly, however, it seems that our party cannot seem to shake what I, and others, call a purity test of ‘what is a Conservative’. And that seems to have already come to the forefront of the campaign by a couple of candidates. Let me just say as a Conservative Party of BC member, and as someone active in the party, that frustrates me to no end. Conservatives, more than any other political philosophy or belief, at least to me, seems to have the widest and broadest spectrum of ideals.   For the most part, they are anchored by these central thoughts --- smaller and less intru...
1 comment
Read more

BC cannot regulate, redesign, and reinterpret its way to a stable forestry sector. Communities need clear rules, predictable timelines, and accountability for results.

Photo credit:  Atli Resources LP   BC’s Forestry Crisis Continues with Closure of Beaver Cove Chip Facility   As industry leaders, Indigenous partners, and contractors gather this week at the BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George, the gap between government rhetoric and reality could not be clearer. Just hours after the Eby government once again touted reconciliation, certainty, and economic opportunity under DRIPA, Atli Chip Ltd, a company wholly owned by the ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation, announced it is managing the orderly closure of its Beaver Cove chip facility. The closure comes despite public tax dollars, repeated government announcements, and assurances that new policy frameworks would stabilize forestry employment and create long-term opportunity in rural and coastal British Columbia. “British Columbians are being told one story, while communities are living another,” said Ward Stamer, Critic for Forests. “This closure makes it clear that announcement...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more