Prime Minister David Eby is asking Ottawa to increase the federal subsidy for Ferry users in BC after Prime Minister Mark Carney followed the promise of the lowest ferry rates in the east of Canada.
Eby said on Monday that the federal government subsidizes Ferry users on the east coast at approximately $ 300 per person, while Ferry users in BC receive $ 1 per person, and said that the provinces should receive the same per capita financing, regardless of the program.
The prime minister said that Ottawa must increase the federal subsidy for BC Ferry users, which has not changed for almost two decades.
“We will need the federal government to see its policy seriously in relation to Ferry users in British Columbia and guarantee a fair treatment for ferry users here,” Eby said.
As of August 1, passenger, cars and commercial traffic rates in Ferry services in East Canada that receive federal support will decrease by 50 percent.
The rates for passengers and vehicles in the ferry that operates between New Scotland and Newfoundland and Labrador are also going down. Ottawa has pledged to increase funds for the operator – Marine Atlantic, a federal Crown corporation – to reduce the price by 50 percent. Ottawa is also freezing commercial freight rates on that route.
The lowest rates occur when BC Ferries faces criticism for their decision to hire the shipyards of the China Weihai merchants industry to build four new ships, after a five -year acquisition process that did not see any Canadian postist.
The Minister of Transportation of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, said it is disappointed with the decision, while the conservatives, both at the federal level and in BC, have gone beyond, saying that the agreement must be discarded completely.
The Transport Committee of the House of the Commons agreed to launch a study on the loan ferries of $ 1 billion a.
Eby has said that he would urge the committee to expand his investigation to see how unfairly are BC users compared to Atlantic Ferry users.
“Therefore, I would encourage the Federal Committee to take a look at the differential treatment of the coasts in terms of Ferry’s support. And I think in the future, there is a great opportunity for us to work with the federal government to ensure that our naval construction industry has the opportunity to build these ferries here in Canada.”
In a statement to the Canadian press, BC Ferries said that “one of the world’s largest and most complex ferry systems operates, already a difference from many other jurisdictions, Ferry users directly pay the vast majority of system costs.”
“Without additional support, rates would have to increase by more than 30 percent only in 2028, only to keep up with operational and capital pressures,” he added.
Serge Buy, CEO of the Ferry Canadian Association, told CBC News that Ottawa’s relationship with BC Ferries, a private company owned by the BC government, and Marine Atlantic is different, since the federal government has a constitutional obligation to support the cargo and passenger service that connects Nova Scotia with Newfound and Labrador.
The Federal Government also subsidizes ferries in the maritime through the Ferry Services Contribution Program, which began in 1941 to help finance three key interprovincial ferry routes in the Atlantic of Canada and the east of Québec.
The financing of Ottawa for BC Ferries was negotiated by former Prime Minister Bill Bennett in 1977.
“While I certainly hope that there is more money available, I would not call it an unfair proposal,” he said. “It’s simply moving money where the federal government has some key responsibilities.”
In a statement, Freeland’s office said that “when it comes to operational costs, financing focuses on interprovincial and mandatory Ferry services constitutionally.”
