This horse has been ridden before.......

.....make the ferry System part of the highway system, in deed as well as name. And treat both in the same manner.

So - charge for using the highways. Or make the ferries "free". Why this discrimination?

If David Hahn did such a

If David Hahn did such a wonderful job at the helm at BC Ferries since 2003, how come everything that he's done is now going to be changed? How come nobody is talking about the massive debt that David Hahn and his board accumulated since '03, in particularly to German banks @ 10% interest? How much money does BC Ferries owe to SNC Lavolin for all the 'consulting' they did? I imagine if the real truth got out about the Liberal's mis-management there would be riots in the streets

If you choose to live on an island...

Lets face it..it is expensive to run a ferry service as large as this one. Costs always go up, never down.
Barebones services is what is needed. Get rid of the fluff. Maybe its time to cut back or eliminate runs to all the smaller islands, other than food and supplies, or increase the price to cover the actual operational costs. There are too many islands with too few people asking for subsidies that affect the rest of us tax payers in a very large way.
Why all the free rides? It would probably be cheaper to buy each of the gulf islanders a boat, and be done with them

Same old story

Publicly owned corporations are pushed to some "crisis" of the governments making so privatization is seen as the only way out. Why? because publicly owned corporations can't provide campaign contributions and profit for "friends" while the privatized versions can. Keep voting BC Liberal and Federal Conservative folks - you ain't seen nothing yet.

PRIVATIZE

The answer is simple, sell the profitable routes to private industry. They would not want the non-profitable ones, and use the proceeds to subsidize the other routes for a year or two until we get a new government. A new government that will inherit the whole mess. Nothing really changes dose it?

I think Van Isle raises the most valid point.

How do we clean up the mess if we never address the reason why we got into this mess in the first place. Oh yes Fast Ferries some liberal will say but that is a mere drop in the ocean and it is only part of it. So we need a disclosure on David Hahn's activities at the helm and why BC Ferries is broke. The next thing you know is the government will be announcing that they are looking for a buyer.

no sympathy

I have occupied the Gulf Islands for almost 3 decades
I have little and often NO sympathy for people who take their personal vehicles on the ferries.
They CHOOSE this out of laziness and an unwillingness to try options.
Few will park and ride and use public transit,which should be stepped up but it has definitely gotten BETTER.
And it is a whole LOT cheaper to be a foot passenger and use public transit or participate in ride shares.
I watch them year after year, race to the ferries, spend money on meals, which are about the cost of a fare for a foot passenger and then complain about the cost of ferries.
Not only that, many of them won't stop for a hitch hiker and they idle at the ferries.
So much for climate change consciousness and pollution mindfulness, eh!

Ridership will continue to diminish

We have family in Victoria and are taken hostage by B.C. Ferries each time we visit. The cost to travel the 88 km. back and forth between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay costs us twice as much as the remaining 1100 km of each trip. We can no longer afford this expense and plan to cross as foot passengers and use public transit on all future sailings. At least our contribution to the system is about to change dramatically and I suspect the same decision is being made by many others.

I was a good BCF customer...

because I lived on Pender Island for 11 yrs and Comox for 2 more. I don't live on an island anymore because of the ferry hassle and costs.
Generally I thought the service was pretty good but it didn't get any better when the CEO was paid a million $/yr.
I remember when they changed the Bowen Island ferry from a ferry that would have been adequate, if certain steps had been implemented, to a much larger and more expensive ferry. The kind of steps that 'carfreecity' mentions in a previous post. They did the same thing when they changed to the much larger and more expensive German made mainland ferries instead of building new replacements for the adequate made in BC ferries.
Like the rest of us BC Ferries does not look at their requirements and say 'what do we need' they look and say, 'what do we want'.
As my grandmother used to say, "Better is the enemy of the good".

bfearn says it all.

The FastCats were a dumb move and the Spirit-class boats were even dumber.

Privatisation?

Let me think: CP Air was private. They ended up leasing their planes instead of owning them, to show a short term profit. Would a private BC Ferries try to lease their boats from holding company too, for short term gain? Why not sell the BCF to an American corporation? NAFTA Rules, right? I think not.

I wasn't aware that BCF took out a loan from a German bank to pay for the ferries. That was a questionable move in terms of business ethics.

We don't need a long term vision for our ferries. We just need reliable service in Queen-class sized boats with a sober crew that watches the radar screens and doesn't get into a snit over their personal relations.

The last thing we need is a rethink of this essential service. It is about right in my opinion, in terms of fare rates. This talk of a free ferry service is someone's idea of a free ride. User-pay works for me.

The only improvements I can see that would make a difference are passenger-only services on the Nanaimo and Schwartz Bay runs. That would require BCF to talk to the transportation partners to provide buses, or in time, a rail link. That is close to impossible in BC, where the biggest mountains are those in the heads of our bureaucrats.

We need to stop being too-clever-for-our-own-good and start using common sense for a change.

Mike Corrigan "Bright CEO"

"Also, he said, some people like the reservation system the way it is now and the company wouldn't change it without a great deal of consideration".
Yes, when all my friends heard that the reservation system is recommended to move to a fee of $0 they were outraged.
Is this guy really that stupid?

...It also calls on the

...It also calls on the government to develop a long-term vision for the ferry service...

I left the Island and moved away just before they privatised the Ferry Service and since then fares have gone up so much I swear I'll never go back, even though I have property.

here's a better idea... a bridge/tunnel from/to the Mainland and do away with 80% of the traffic congestion, and with whatever is left over we can transfer it all back to the Department of Highways to administer for a fraction of the cost we all have to pay currently... with this option, the amount of tourist influx will help pay for the bridge/tunnel in much the same way that the Coquihalla Highway did... if not tell me why not!

In the name of democracy the

In the name of democracy the public should get to vote on the continued subsidization of the ferry system. With the massive influx of funds needed the ferry system will be far more costly to the average taxpayer than the HST yet we don't have a say. It's only fair in regards to this is taxation without representation.

BC Ferries Service

It is time to look at building highways where they can be built and put a toll on them. We need only to use the ferrys where there are really no other alternative route to go.

Federal Gov't windfall from BC fuel taxes and HST

Perhaps the feds can send some of the money they have hijacked from BC taxpayers from the pump. Taxing taxes at the pump either has to stop or the feds need to designate their windfall to supporting the Trans Canada Highway system that used to include the ferry to Vancouver Island.

The reservation system is another price gouging device by BC Ferries. Washington State Ferry system changes nothing for reserving a space.

I agree with Coon, these recent recommendations have been voiced by many ferry users for the same period dearly departed Hahn has headed the crown corporation.

Wait for 2013 Election period for any changes to occur.

@ Jim

That idea might have some merit if you let every voter south of Hope vote on whether to keep and maintain Highway 16. All taxpayers pay for all transportation facilities in all of B.C.. There can be no exceptions in a rational mind.

You are mostly wrong

BCF corporation is paying high interest to German banks, if BC Ferries was part of Government interest payments would fall by 20$ million per year..

But there is so much more, BC Ferries interest on $1.6 billion dollars in debt, but.

$500 million of that debt was for a debenture,in other words,m BC Ferries is paying interest on $500 million dollars of debt(part of the $1.6 billion debt)..That $500 million went into General revenue, it was used to prop up Campbell`s 2005 election budget..

It appears to be theft..

BC Ferries could have the Province take their debt and interest rates would go from 10% to 4%..

Everything else is fluff and obfuscation..

The real story is here..

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2011/07/premier-gordon-butterfly-campbells.html

This report is bunk, deflective bunk...

BC Liberals should be jailed

Tired of the BC Liberal lies, starting with Christy Clark.

"An actual Transcript of the Christy Clark show on cknw

This is an actual transcript I received from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council after filed a complaint against Christy from the CBSC...I filed against this episode.

____________________________________

The Christy Clark show ....The transcript.....Christy Clark`s words...

Clark "How much of a difference has his leadership made at BC Ferries? It`s a company that now delivers a half a billion dollars in profit back to you and I !{sic} the taxpayers and don`t forget, we didn`t start making this profit until after David Hahn took over and started cleaning it up. So how much is that worth to you? And to me, the people who pay taxes in this Province? Yes, we could cut David Hahn`s pay. We could save the corporation maybe a hundred, two hundred, maybe three hundred grand a year. And then when he leaves and is replaced by somebody who`s willing to work for less, how much profit will there be left for the taxpayer to garner? Would we be earning four hundred million instead of five? Three hundred million insted of five? Maybe we`d be earning the same amount. The fact is no one knows. But are you willing to take that risk? Are you willing to risk hundreds of millions in profits to save perhaps a couple of hundred thousand dollars in salary?
The fact is that leadership really does matter. And in the case of BCFerries, it`s pretty easy to argue David Hahn`s leadership in particular has made a very, very big difference. Is he overpaid? I don`t know. I `m not really sure what the job is worth. But I do know that five hundred million dollars in profit back to you and I {sic} the taxpayer, is a pretty good deal.
What do you think...604-280-9898...*9898 on your cell."

Part II

"I was the first caller up..Part II

And then I was first caller up....."Hi Brian"

Brian..Hi Christy, you know, I don`t know where you get your facts from, but you know BC Ferries has a $1.4 billion dollar capital debt. In the last fiscal reported quarter, April, May and june of this year, they didn`t even make enough money to cover their operating expenses and interest payments, which is fifty million dollar per year on their capital debt. Plus the Province subsidizes BC Ferries to the tune of almost two hundred million dollars a year. Where do you get this $500 million dollar profit amount from?

Clark--They, they return that to the taxpayer. It is on, you can find it in public accounts.

Brian--Yea, well, I suggest that you do a little more scanning and talk to Gary Coons, uh the, ferry critic....Because BC Ferries is in, is right now, is in a financial disaster.uh!

Clark-but they don`t have a fi, they don`t have a capital debt, though. Brian, because

Brian--Yes they do!..$1.4 billion dollars!

Clark-No, hold on, hold on, listen, listen, listen! listen. They don`t have a capital debt. though, because of David Hahn. They have a capital debt largely because we spent so much money on the fast ferries that there was no money left over to actually look after the ferries that were going to work in british Columbia. They had to build new ferries.

Brian--No, your wrong on that. Christy, because when Hahn took over, all the debt that BC Ferries had was retired by the Province. Hahn came in there was a clean slate. And this $1.4 billion dollar debt has been gathered up since Hahn has been at the-

Clark-But he, but, Brian, my point is he came in with BC Ferries that were, a fleet that was, in such a bad state of dis-repair, I mean, some of the ferries were, I think, thirty or forty years old

Brian-Christy-

Clark-They had to be upgraded

Brian-No, no no

Clark-and there was no money to do it because it had been misspent in previous years. That money for the fast ferries should have gone into upgrading the fleet over those years.

Brian--Christy, I have been riding the ferries for thirty years. The, the Langdale run, the island, there are no more sailings than there ever was {sic} The schedule`s been the same for three decades on the"

Part III

Part III

Sunshine coast. Uh, they sunk a ferry under Hahn...The fast ferries were a bad design and, and is at issue, but, that the fast ferries had nothing to do with maintenance of the fleet-

Clark-YES!

Brian-Or money taken away from ferries-

Clark-Of course it did!

Brian-No it didn`t!

Clark-Of course it did, all those years-

Brian-Look at the convention center--

Clark-All of, oh, come on! Leave the convention center out of this! That`s, that`s crazy. The money that went into the fast ferries was diverted from BC Ferries budget and it shoud have gone into replacing the ancient archaic, old fleet. And it didn`t! That`s why there`s a capital debt at BC ferries. Make no doubt. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The convention center doesn`t have a whole lot to do with that Brian.

_______________________________________

Christy Clark was then forced to retract, on air!

It wasn`t a very good retraction but she fulfilled CBSC`s ruling.

Cheers

Part IV

And to further the story..

Look at the fiscal shape of BC Ferries and where is David Hahn today!

And where is that $500 million dollar prfofit!

At this time in BC History David Hahn`s wage was just revealed, it was revealed that he was making over $500 K a year..Clark was sent in to defend Hahn and the BC Liberals..

She made false claims, false facts, she spun and twisted defending Hahn and his wage..

She refused to accept all the facts and links I sent on the True state of BC Ferries, therefor the complaint was filed..

Christy`s on air retraction was lame.

I contacted BC Ferries after Christy made her subtle retraction late on a Friday afternoon, I asked Debra Marshall where Christy got the information she used in her subtle retraction..

Here is the complete letter from Debra Marshall at BC Ferries sent to me.
_____________________________________________

" The government used to own the controlling interest in BC Ferries, which had a book value of $503,178,000.

On April 2,2003, the government issued BC Ferries a debenture for $427,701,000, which BC Ferries promised to pay in cash.

In addition,at that time,the government was issued 75,477 non-voting preferred shares in BC Ferries,valued at $1000 per share.

On may 27,2004, BC Ferries paid the debenture of $427,701,000 to the government.BC Ferries had also paid the government interest on the debenture of $25,879,191.49.

For the government`s preferred shares, BC Ferries pays an 8% dividend per year of $6,038,160. We`ve paid that annually for six years for a total of $36,228,960.

In summary,BC Ferries has paid the province $489,809,000."
_________________________________________

Honesty, no way...Another bullshitter politician towing the corporate line!

Good Day

The ending

For the record..

"The retraction Christy Clark made..

Christy`s retraction tried to connect the $489,000,000 from the debenture paid to BC`s general revenue and make it sound like profit, it wasn `t, it was borrowed money, money that BC Ferries borrowed through the debenture, money that BC Ferries pays interest on, money that went into General revenue.

Smoke, mirrors and plain old dishonesty."

After the Fact

Its all well and good for the office of the Commissioner to come out with some common sense findings now. The conclusions of this report are not rocket science. Any semi objective observer of the BC Ferries Corporation have reached similar conclusions as all of these findings.

But where this report falls down and where the most partisan criticism fall down is their outright hatred and blame for former CEO Hahn and the Campbell government.

When in fact the real blame criticism needs to be placed at the feet of those who were responsible to the "single shareholder", the public.

Where has the qualified Board of Directors been the past ten years? Why has the "qualified Board of Directors not taken any responsibility for the mess Ferries is in? Why does the public and press just focus on evil Hahn. Are we that simple that a big bad American is the sole focus of our attention. All the while the qualified and eminent Board of Directors is off the hook. And in labour and NDP circles we conveniently forget that Gordon Larkin formerly of the Canadain Labour Congress was a labour appointment, but then was so onside that Hahn and his pet board appointed Gordon to the big boys board where he no longer had to get his hands messy reporting to labour.

Or how about former NDP Minister and Premier Dan Miller and more recently former Fishermen Union President John Radacovic.

These are people that let the ferry users, the workers and the taxpayer down. This isn't just an ugly American, but some people we have known our whole lives.

Lets us people on the so called progressive side of the equation be more honest with ourselves and more thoughtful in our criticism.

fixed link???

"here's a better idea... a bridge/tunnel from/to the Mainland and do away with 80% of the traffic congestion, and with whatever is left over we can transfer it all back to the Department of Highways to administer for a fraction of the cost we all have to pay currently... with this option, the amount of tourist influx will help pay for the bridge/tunnel in much the same way that the Coquihalla Highway did... if not tell me why not!"

Try a toll of over $200 one-way per trip, 2002 dollars.

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/reports_and_studies/fixed_link/fixed_link.htm

I don't know how a bridge could possible be cheaper - the island is oer 20km away as the crow flies, and alot further as the car travels.

Besides cars are heavily, heavily subsidized in the provincial accounts as it is - a bridge would only add another $18 billion 2012 dollars to that debt - in a province that already has $60 billion in debt commitments on the books. I can't see any reason for subsidizing car travel any more than it already is.

Stick to the ferries.

carfreecity,georgesmith,bfear

carfreecity,georgesmith,bfearn and granville are on target: shifts towards more passengers leaving their private vehicles behind should be promoted -- not only for efficient low cost ferries, but also because this is part of the larger problem of adjusting to more energy efficient transport in general.
Some cross subsidisation within the system makes sense, although not to the extent of equalising all fares.
As for reservations, the present system has it right: those who value their time most highly pay extra, and those with shallower pockets, or who find themselves having to travel unexpectedly, pay less in money, though they may pay more time waiting at the docks.
As for making the big decisions, the critical item is to determine appropriate terms of reference for each agency involved (ferry corp, ferry commissioner, and the government); clearly, government must be involved, but it cannot get involved in much of the minutiae of operations. Campbell's concept that the appropriate framework for the ferry corp was "commercial" success was stupid; the trick is to come up with something better.

Granville/Jim/A Voice

You rail on about "free rides" and "user pay", and "restricted service" for BC Ferries, but I don't see you equally railing on about how much it costs to maintain the roads and bridges in this province. Are the people who get these "free rides" somehow more entitled than islanders? Are you part of this crowd.......?

Rick: are you talking to ME? Ferries are NOT roads.

We all pay taxes for roads. I live on Vancouver Island, and I think the ferry fare to the mainland is a good deal.

For a Vancouver Islander, the cost of the trip to the mainland is fair value but the trip back is worth about ten times more. I only hope BC Ferries doesn't catch on to that, or they could be charging us $50.00 from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, and $500.00 to get back.

Equating a ferry with a road is nuts. Roads don't have schedules or captains. They don't sink either, and neither do they float.

Roads don't hit the dock at high speed and they they don't break down with suspicious regularity just before a long weekend.

Roads don't throw snits with one another and forget to check the radar. Roads don't usually drown people, though they can have icy relations with your tires and they can be greasy.

Roads are not made in Germany so they don't come with instrction manuals written in German with words like "Vorschicht", "Verboten" or "Einfart".

Roads are fairly boring. They don't have a spokesperson with beautiful blonde hair, looking like a million dollars to speak for them. Roads don't rock you to sleep at night and they don't toss around in a high wind.

When you think about it, there are a lot of good reasons to build a bridge to Vancouver Island. It is less than 20 km from Galiano Island to Tsawassan.

Victoria to San Juan Island is about 8 km. The Strait of Georgia isn't that big.

I suspect a bridge would be

I suspect a bridge would be easy to finance. The bcf or the province could issue bonds specific to the project and shop them out. No doubt money would come pouring in, anonymous money from anonymous investors. Maybe drug money looking for a taxpayer supported laundromat.

The ndp government brought in "alternative capital procurement guidelines" (no doubt a recommendation from "staff"). Off book. Island highway, fast ferries, any megaproject you can name. Meanwhile, it's estimated that over $700b in drug money every year needs to get laundered.

Cynic is talking trash, but he might be right.

Legalising marijuana and using the taxes to build for the bridge would be a win, win, win situation. We could call it the Mary Jane Bridge in her honour. It would mess up the island life on whatever route was taken, but so what? Many islanders are on drugs anyway.

BCF would be in a real pickle then. All their routes would lose money. They would have to fund them by bringing onboard casinos and whore-houses. Late isn't it?

A bridge to nowhere

You clowns just hijacked the story, none of you picked up on the real problem, the BC Liberals looted BC Ferries to the tune of $500 million, the Liberals also attempted to wipe out the union, and ship-building in BC.

Again the cockeyed bridge plan rises like the sun, only to fade away into the space time warp, where it belongs.

"A fixed bridge across Georgia Strait would also be subject to snow, ice and fog conditions that could make driving hazardous.

Any fixed link across Georgia Strait would pass through or over high use navigation channels. Currently 45,000 vessels pass through these waters each year, including pleasure craft, commercial vessels and military vessels. A fixed link would potentially require two channels, each a minimum of 200 metres wide by 65 metres high to accommodate current and future vessel needs.

The cost of building a fixed link using the technologies available right now could not be borne by government alone. Any private-sector interest undertaking such a project would require a return of 12 to 20 per cent. This would have to be raised through tariffs that would not only cover the cost of construction, but also annual maintenance and rehabilitation and insurance over the 100-year expected service life of the structure. With these considerations in mind, tariff structures for a fixed link using available technologies would probably be based as follows:

Return Rate

Tariff (One Way) for an
$8-billion project

Tariff (One Way) for a
$12-billion project

9% (Breakeven)

$180

$260

12 %

$260

$380

15 %

$360

$525

20 %

$555

$800

The costs of a fixed-link construction project may not be affordable for the provincial government to undertake for many years to come. As technology advances, the ministry would be willing to look at any proposals the private sector brings forward."

Read the link, 45,000 ship crossings, heavy seas, ice, fog, incredible depths...Just what we need, obstacles for tankers to run into..Tolls round trip..$300 to $500 dollars...And ferries would still be needed for smaller islands..

Yea, dream away, estimated bridge cost in today`s dollars...$40 billion dollars..

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/reports_and_studies/fixed_link/fixed_link.htm

Ferries are paying interest on $500 mil that went into general revenue, BC Ferries is paying double the interest on said debt, double the rate a crown corp would pay..

Why don`t you build a goddam bridge to China..

Converse away, what a waste of words.

Bottom depth is over 1000 feet in places, muddy bottom, earthquakes, a $billion dollars for a roof, $1.3 billion for the new RCMP headquarters, bridge idea is dead..

So is this conversation

Free ferries in the BC interior

Three free ferries that run in the BC interior, all of them have roads to drive around, and guess what, they run 24 hours per day..

Buy what the hell, those are in BC Conserv..err, BC Liberal ridings, free ferries running 24/7.

I have an idea, BC ferries should charge interior residents double the ferry rate, Albertans triple, who wants the entitled bastards stinking up Vancouver island..

BC Convention center, subsidized, BC Place roof, subsidized, skytrain, subsidized...

BC Ferries creates wealth and moves roughly $120 billion dollars worth of goods per year..Hey dude, it`s GDP and an economic driver..

But don`t let facts get in the way of your fairy tale bridge..

"There is none so blind as those who refuse to see"

Speeple are everywhere, brainwashed sheep..Baa Baaa blah.

Clueless tw.....

A while back

A while back David Hahn was bemoaning the fact that the cost of fuel to run the fleet had gone up threefold during a certain timeframe of which I can't remember at this time. However, the actual cost of fuel had only gone up about 80-90% during this same period.

The question becomes why did the cost for fuel triple when it shouldn't have even doubled during this period? Did Mr. Hahn embellish the increased costs of fuel to justify rate hikes and fuel charges? Highly unlikely as the expenditures for fuel could be easily verified by looking at the books.

Did BC Ferries increase the number of sailings to such an extent that they incurred about $40 million more than they should have? Again highly unlikely considering that a decline in ridership would not justify such a move.

In my humble opinion, the reason the fuel costs went through the roof can be attributed to the 3 new ferries purchased from Germany. Unfortunately neither our supposed vaunted media nor current government want to address this discrepancy. As I see it, by the time these 3 new ferries need to be replaced, the cost of the Fasrcats will be nothing more than chump change compared to the cost of continuing to use these fuel hogs.

Free inland BC Ferries!!!!

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/marine/ferry_schedules.htm

Check out all these FREE FERRIES!!!

Why only the coast gets their pockets picked???

Braniacs!

Only an IDIOT reaches such a conclusion

"On the surface I'm pleased the commissioner has confirmed BC Ferries is an efficient and well-run organization," said BC Ferries president and CEO Mike Corrigan.

Bucket of oil...

I am just kidding about the bridge. It was a joke. That said, you are clearly unaware of some of the bridges that have been built across waters in the last decade.

Your comment about BCF and the BC Govt shuffling funds around is interesting, but I worked in private industry and they accrue costs and shift money around more creatively than that.

Look at a map of the Strait of Georgia. Look at the distance between San Juan Island and Victoria, then at the gap at the eastern end. The longest distance over water is 8 km. Then look at the Confederation Bridge, just for example.

OK, so scrap the bridge idea. It sucks anyway. How about a passenger service that is integrated into the transportation system so that people can walk on in Victoria and walk off in Vancouver? Ditto Nanaimo to Vancouver via Horseshoe Bay.

Why is there not a passenger-only service? Are we welded to our cars? Living in Canada is like living with constipation; we can't get anything done any more. BC, is a great place to live, but we are national a joke. We couldn't fight our way out of a paer bag with a pair of scissors. We couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, nor an orgy in a brothel. In 20 year's time, we will be having exactly the same argument and coming to the same conclusions. We are too clever for our own good and too stupid for words.

How long ago did the Campbell government through Barry Penner order the City of Victoria to install sewage treatment? I rest my case.

False Prophets

This reminds me of all the promises of market efficiencies, safety, blah, blah, when the privatization of BC Ferries was first being proposed by the BC Liberals. Since then, we've had a ferry sink up north with casualties, a crash landing into Horseshoe Bay Marina, crash landing at Duke Point over Christmas, ferries made in Germany that consume fuel so inefficiently they spend most of the time sitting, and more ferries unavailable due to maintenance than ever before. Now they want to cut ferries to remote communities because of labour costs - wait, I thought JOBS justified ANYTHING?! Meanwhile, the BC Liberals wag their finger at NDP about Fast Cats when their handling of these ferries is abysmal in comparison.

The "bridge"...

...is a bit of mischief brought into this debate just to raise the blood pressure of Islanders who would be tempted to blow it up at first opportunity. We are not going to build it in even the distant future, and everyone knows it. By the time we figure out how to anchor a floating fixed link to a seabed which is covered by a thick (often a kilometre thick) layer of alluvial mud; and accomodate shipping traffic, the Fraser delta will have accreted to Galiano Island and solved the problem for us.

Then there is the expense. Someone suggested selling pot to finance it. In addition to the fact that we could all toke ourselves hoarse for the rest of our lives and still fall fall short of achieving this, the money could be better used for many other more worthy goals, rather than a divisive project of dubious feasibilty.

Ferry Fares

I am mystified how anyone could conclude that the current fare structure for the mainland-Vancouver Island route is remotely acceptable. I ride the ferries in both B.C. and Washington state on a regular basis. the difference could not be more stark.

Since Campbell "privatised" B.C. Ferries, we have embarked on the needless cosmetic refurbishment of some of the older ferries and the purchase of the gigantic, plush German ferries. Now, after a decade of this neo-conservative experiment, foot passenger fares have risen to $14.25.

The ferry which covers the forty-minute crossing between Coupville and Port Townsend, by contrast, costs 9$ one way for car and driver. The ferry, however, is quite spare and utilitarian. While I am not aware of the subsidy given by the state government, I doubt that it is proportionately more generous than ours.

We do not require a fleet of ersatz cruise ships to ferry us between the island and the mainland. Most of us who do the crossing frequently would be happy with a barge as long as the price was right.

BC Ferries

Free Trade ZONE, for the whole western hemisphere is the plan, turning over the sovereignty of Canada to Private Interests. We can equally thank mulroney ; martin ; harper. Then we can add in cambells TILMA, which yet again stifles the democratically elected local /provincial Governments from doing thier jobs.

Is it a restaurant or a ferry?

When the Fastcats were introduced, much was made of the fact they had reduced the kitchen areas saving weight and space.

Thinking about that, one could wonder why we have food service at all on the ferries?

We are all lined up for hours wating for the ferry, why not provide in-car service on the parking lot?
Maybe some free-enterprise carts pushed around so we could select our choice?

Heaven forbid that we perhaps could pack a picnic basket?

No bridge

http://www.vancouversun.com/Vancouver+Island+bridge+mainland+idea+dead+water/6056156/story.html

A timely article

Excuse me, Mr. G!

It's not me who is equating roads and ferries. It's the Government of Canada, which backs this up with subsidies just like it gives for roads.

AND, the Trans-Canada Highway begins in Victoria.

Settebello: You missed something. Mountain pine beetle impact

With the pine beetle killing 100 million trees, there will be mass wastage in the Fraser watershed. The increased sediment in the SoG will fill in the Salish Sea, creating a natural wetland from Campbell River to Gordon Head. I did the math.

Since we always fill in wetlands, as driven by holy decree, it is a foregone conclusion that the new land between Vancouver and Nanaimo will be in roadbed condition by 2100.

What we really need is more dead trees, more mass wastage and more sediment. With no Salish Sea and no more fracking sockeye to get in the way, we can dam the Fraser in ten places and solve the energy crisis till 2300.

If you need a concept to sell, tell everyone it will mean the end, the very end, of the BC Ferry Corp. They will buy it on that alone. We can use the beached ships for casinos and SROH's for the homeless.

Hey, I am just trying to help. These suggestions are at least as good as spending billions on the 2010 Olympics or $1.8 billion to upgrade VYA.

What a bunch of schmucks!

Where were you more than two years ago when I noticed deserted docks at 8pm in the middle of the summer? If you can't get people to pay for the crossing you can kiss your tourist dollars goodbye on the island. Then the tourism service jobs go away and along with them the taxes that supported and helped created the ferry service in the first place.

My final thought on BC Ferries....

Many British Columbians may not need the ferry to cross the Strait of Georgia. There are a good number of people who act as if they should be able to walk on water. If everyone in BC who acts as if they were Jesus Christ and were as infallible as they think they are, they WOULD be able to walk from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Ferry traffic would be reduced by 50% overnight.

It could impact our demand for fish, too. We could feed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread.

If only this were true. Sad fact is that we only ACT as if we were omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent; in reality the exact opposite is true.

Lies, lies, lies.

The BC Liberals are incapable of telling the truth.
This is why Christy Clark has seven (7) spin-masters in her team of top advisors.
Ms Clark is just a pretty stooge trying to keep up with what came naturally for Gordon Campbell.
Keep smiling, Chrissie - you are going down with the ship - in 2013.

Who's talkin' trash?!

Who's talkin' trash?!