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OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is open to the idea of funding the B.C. ferry system, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Thursday.
He made the comment after a day-long meeting with provincial counterparts that included Todd Stone, B.C.’s minister of transportation and infrastructure.
Garneau noted that Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi spoke to the ministers earlier in the day and was asked by B.C. and some other provinces if Ottawa would agree to fund ferries as part of its plan to sharply increase infrastructure spending.
“I think minister Sohi demonstrated an openness to expanding some of the eligibility for different forms of infrastructure, including possibly ferries,” Garneau replied.
Stone later told The Sun he’s getting good vibes on both B.C.’s “asks” on the ferry front – a request to fund ferries when the federal Liberals start fulfilling their promise to sharply increase infrastructure spending, and to plea to waive the $52-million import tariff Victoria says it is required to pay to import three vessels now being constructed for B.C. in Poland.
He said previous federal governments had already set the precedent by waiving the tariff.
But he said in neither case has Ottawa fully confirmed it will agree to the requests. “We’re not there yet.”
The provincial government has announced a 12-year, $3.5-billion program to add a new ferry a year to the service each year over that period. If the federal infrastructure money goes into the system it would be used to help pay for new ferries or terminal upgrades.
The province is likely going to have to demonstrate that the money will generate significant economic activity, since there is growing pressure on Ottawa to use infrastructure funding to boost the sagging economy.
Stone said Victoria isn’t asking for a higher share of spending for the province. Any funding going to ferries will mean less would be available for roads, bridges, water treatment facilities, social housing and other forms of infrastructure.
He said the previous Harper government expressed openness to funding ferries, but officials found resistance in the bureaucracy.
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CBC News - Jan 27, 2016
A new passenger ferry service between Gibsons and Horseshoe Bay launches Wednesday afternoon.
Pacific Ferries says it was established in 2015 to offer commuters a fast, reliable way to get between the Sunshine Coast and the mainland.
"We want to offer better quality of life for residents by giving them another option," said company spokesperson Linda Feuerhelm.
The service will operate at peak times in the late afternoon and early evening.
To attract new customers, a ride on the 46-passenger vessel service will be free for the first three days. After that, it will cost $15.
Bikes can be brought on board for an extra $2.
Feuerhelm said the company is hoping to expand to include service to Bowen Island.
In 2014, BC Ferries announced plans to cut services along some its routes, including Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast.
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Read the op/ed by CFA's CEO, Serge Buy, in Marine News' January 2016 issue, click ici pour.
CHEK News - January 13, 2016
There’s growing outrage over the sale of a BC Ferries ship for what critics say was a rock-bottom price.
The Queen of Chilliwack went through a $15 million re-fit just three years ago yet it was reportedly sold for less than $2 million and two more Vancouver Island ferries could be next.
After five decades, the Queen of Burnaby’s coming to the end of her run.
The ferry will soon be put up for sale, after being plagued by mechanical problems for the last few years.
“BC ferries is an embarrassment,” Powell River resident Chris Walford said this week. “It’s ridiculous.”
The ship, which went through a $12 million re-fit in 2011, is once again out of service on the Comox to Powell River run, replaced by a much smaller vessel.
“People are not happy at all,” said ferry user Rick McIntosh. “I mean there’s got to be a better way. We have to have some sort of a back up system.”
Queen of Chilliwack could have been used as a back-up
Many are questioning why the Queen of Chilliwack wasn’t kept as a back-up. Instead, the ferry — which underwent a $15 million refit in 2012 — was recently sold to a former BC Ferries employee George Goundar of Goundar Shipping in Fiji who says he paid less than $2 million.
“Apparently there’s virtually no backup available on the fleet at all so to sell a ferry you just spent $15 million on for cents on the dollar, given this particular circumstance, makes no sense to us at all,” says NDP ferry critic Gary Holman.
BC Ferries is refusing to do interviews on this story but a spokesperson told CHEK News it would cost approximately $1.5 to $2 million a year to keep the Chilliwack on stand-by.
“It’s not as easy as just keeping a bicycle just in case your car breaks down,” explains Serge Buy of the Canadian Ferry Association, which represents 95 per cent of ferry operators in Canada. “You have to keep a number of expensive machinery intact and there’s insurance and inspections so it’s not as easy as let’s keep a ferry on the side just in case another one breaks down.”
But there’s growing outrage about why the ferry — which had new navigational equipment, new life saving equipment, electrical and generator system upgrades, engine overhauls and work done on the car deck just three years ago — was sold for so little.
“There certainly seems to be something fishy going on with this whole sale,” says Jordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The lack of transparency from BC Ferries is frustrating although perfectly inline with the organizational culture there. They need to open their books and let us see what happened.”
With both the Queen of Burnaby and the Queen of Nanaimo being put up for sale soon, BC Ferries says talking about the deal could compromise those sales.
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Today, Transport Canada has released the December 2015 Transportation of Dangerous Goods Newsletter.
Cliquez ici pour to access.
Update: ici pour to see the Qs & As that have been developed.
Request for Proposals – Development of a Conference App
The Canadian Ferry Association CFA) is seeking a company to develop a professional mobile ‘app’ for an upcoming conference (Sept 2016).
The app would need to be launched by the end of July 2016.
Mobile application would need to function on the following platforms:
Specifications below:
Proposals should be sent to Kristin Baldwin – kbaldwin@cfoa.ca – by January 29., 2016.
Early bird rates available until January 31er! Register today for – September 18-20, 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario.
Cliquez ici pour to register now.
This year’s theme is Accessibility in the Ferry Sector.
Delegates can expect to be updated on issues related to making vessels as accessible as possible. This includes:
Sponsor and exhibitor packages available – click ici pour for more info.
Call for Papers
Have a topic that you think our delegates can benefit from hearing? Have a new product or service related to increasing accessibility? Stay tuned for our Call for Papers – coming soon.
Navigator Magazine - 01/01/2016
Newfoundland and Labrador’s newly minted representative in the federal cabinet was in St. John’s last month to address a captive audience at the FFAW’s (Fish, Food and Allied Workers union) constitutional convention.
Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote said the new Justin Trudeau-lead government has wasted no time in living up to some of the fisheries-related commitments made during the campaign — with the first being the reinstatement of the Coast Guard marine rescue sub-centre in St. John’s.
The gag order on federal scientists speaking to the media has also been lifted, with many fisheries researchers being the first to publically praise this move.
Foote told the union members that the principle of fisheries adjacency will also be given a high priority within the new government. “It ensures that benefits flow to the fishers in coastal communities closest to the resource — thus promoting local economic development. We cannot lose sight of the importance of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.”
“Effective management of our fisheries is essential for ensuring the long-term sustainable success of our marine food supply and the seafood industry and the health of coastal communities where fishing operations are based,” Foote added.
With respect to the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery receiving attention from the new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Coast Guard, Hunter Tootoo, Foote said she has already been speaking with him, emphasizing that he understands how important the fishery is. But she did ask for patience from industry stakeholders.
“It is important for us to give him a little bit of time on some of these issues. Having only been appointed two and a half weeks ago, he is going through what I am going through and that is briefings on a daily basis. He will be responding to his mandate and what he has been tasked to do just like I am responding and will be responding to the media and to others in terms of what I have been tasked to do.”
Foote added that she and the entire seven-member Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal caucus, expects to have a very close working relationship with Tootoo.
“We realize how important the fishery is to Newfoundland and Labrador… he is going to be our best friend. How’s that? I have every confidence in him. He understands the fishery and of the preliminary chats we have had of how important the fishery is to Newfoundland and Labrador, it has become very obvious that he wants to work with us and will work with us.”
One of the long-standing issues Foote asked for patience on involved the war of words between Ottawa and the Newfoundland and Labrador government over the joint federal/provincial $400-million fund tied to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union.
“I am going to leave that to the minister of fisheries, oceans and the coast guard. Clearly he is looking at that and is something that the leader of the Liberal party, during the campaign, said it is a commitment that should be honoured, so I am feeling very comfortable about it.”
Foote also told the FFAW gathering that her government is still committed to reducing the employment insurance claims wait times.
“We have already indicated that instead of the two-week usual wait, it is going to be one week. That has already been announced. We have to put more people into Service Canada to deal with the claims. As you know Service Canada was cut substantially, so we have to look at that. There is a reason we are backlogged and a lot of that has to do with the fact the people were cut from the service.”
Of course, these were only a few of the issues raised by Newfoundland and Labrador to the new Trudeau government in Ottawa.
The province has asked for the immediate suspension of the LIFO (last in, first out) policy — a very contentious issue that has been dragged out for years, creating strife between the inshore and offshore shrimp fleets and processors.
Newfoundland and Labrador has also asked for immediate action to fully remediate the environmental risk presented by the sunken Manolis L in the northeastern waters, as well as suspension of the $25-million import tariffs related to the purchase of two new provincial ferries.
It has also indicated it wants to re-start talks with Tootoo on custodial management of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, changes to halibut quotas and development of a new strategy on joint management of the fishery.
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CBC - 21/12/2015
People who use the ferry service for Fogo Island and Changes Islands got to ride their brand-new ferry this weekend, as the MV Veteran went into service Saturday.
"Awesome. All I can say is awesome — it's a mini cruise ship," says Maureen Lynch, chair of the Fogo Island Transportation Committee.
Lynch said the high winds Sunday caused service interruptions so she hasn't yet taken the ferry ride, except for a tour when it was in St. John's.
"Everybody that I've spoken to is in awe of the … state-of-the-art boat. I mean, she is just a beautiful ship," Lynch told CBC's Central Morning Show.
"I think people are more excited because of the design of the ship — nobody was expecting that type of a boat to be the ferry for here."
Lynch said the main goal is "no more break downs" in service.
While the new ferry can only accommodate three or four vehicles more than the MV Captain Earl W. Winsor, the ferry previously servicing the run, Lynch said it will hopefully fare better for the busy spot.
"Over the past year, especially this year, tourism is big on Fogo Island and it is growing tremendously. I don't know if this ferry is going to be able to keep up with the demands on her, to be honest, especially doing two islands," she said.
"End up probably having to put another boat on for Change Islands — I'm anticipating that this year because tourism has gone growing in leaps and bounds here."
However, Lynch said it "remains to be seen" how the new ferry handles ice in the cold winter months and that the work of the transportation committee is "definitely not" done.
"We need to keep at government, we need a better schedule than what we do have, because coming Jan. 2, we're going back on the winter schedule," she said.
"I don't know why but for whatever reason the government decided to go with two different schedules for Fogo Island-Change Islands. It [doesn't] make sense."
Government officials were in the Fogo Island area Monday to host an official launch of the vessel.
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