Gibsons Mayor Silas White describes a meeting with BC Premier David Eby regarding the state of BC Ferries as “encouraging.”
White, Bowen Island Mayor Andrew Leonard and Randene Neill, MLA for Powell River–Sunshine Coast, met with Eby online Thursday, to discuss the ongoing deterioration of ferry service on BC Ferries Routes 3 (Langdale–Horseshoe Bay) and 8 (Snug Cove–Horseshoe Bay).
White and Leonard sent a joint letter to Eby April 25, requesting a meeting to address what the mayors describe as a “system in crisis, with frequent service breakdowns, prolonged delays, and an absence of accountability across the organizations responsible for coastal ferry operations.”
“Even though Randene Neill doesn't represent Bowen Island, we were encouraged to engage with Randene about further ideas and steps,” said White. “I know a step that's actually happening right now is that the Minister of Transportation has been tasked with looking at our letter and concerns about accountability at BC Ferries.”
White added during the meeting, Eby said further updates will be coming soon from the provincial government.
“Which is really encouraging, because quite often the provincial government just says, ‘Look, this is a private corporation where we have a distance from them,’ and they’ll just kind of wash their hands of it,” said White. “But it's really encouraging that the premier's accepting some public responsibility for the essential service for our ferry-dependent communities.”
White noted Neill had already been working on the issue behind the scenes, speaking to Coast residents and making their concerns known during recent meetings with Eby and the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
“So, I do have the impression that they're looking hard at the structure, because we've raised those issues of accountability to ferry-dependent communities and how that seems to be getting missed,” said White.
The recent Easter long weekend highlighted just how broken the system appears to be for Route 3, when ferry traffic clogged the Sea to Sky Highway at Horseshoe Bay, even blocking the route to Whistler. The highway leading to the Langdale ferry terminal was also blocked to the point vehicles heading to pick up walk-on passengers weren’t able to get there.
Just days before the Easter long weekend, BC Ferries announced there would be no extra sailings out of Horseshoe Bay. In 2024, there were 12 extra sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay in Nanaimo and eight more sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale on that same weekend.
As well, on the Monday of that long weekend, the Queen of Coquitlam from Langdale was stranded just outside Horseshoe Bay for four hours due to an issue with its "pitch control," creating delays and ferry cancellations. The issues experienced by passengers that weekend were part of the catalyst behind the letter to Eby from White and Leonard.
White noted Eby appeared to hear their frustrations, acknowledged what’s been happening and committed to making the resolution of some of the issues a priority.
“I'm not going to say it's top priority, there are lots of things going on right now, but definitely making it a priority and following up with us and looking at some solutions,” said White.
White noted Eby also recognized there are short-term concerns that need to be addressed as well, such as ensuring reliable ferry service this summer.
He added the recent announcement that the Office of the BC Ferries Commissioner approved only four of the five new major vessels BC Ferries requested, is problematic. While none of the four ferries are destined to serve the Sunshine Coast, the fifth relief vessel would have come into play when needed. White said there seems to be a lack of accountability when it comes to BC Ferries.
“There's the B.C. Ferry Authority and the BC Ferries board, but the whole public engagement piece aside, there's no place for all the agencies that are concerned about this and governments concerned about this, to get together and say, ‘Okay, well, if the BC Ferries commissioner said no to this fifth vessel, then what is the plan and who's responsible for ensuring there's a plan. There's just no place for that. That's really a severe shortcoming of the system right now.”
