If the federal government would give the same deal to West Coast ferry passengers as it does those on the East Coast, John Duncan鈥檚 campaign pledge this week might be a little more impressive.
Duncan, the Conservative candidate for the federal riding of Courtenay-Alberni, pledged his party鈥檚 support Thursday for the proposed fast-ferry service between Nanaimo and 91原创.
Island Ferries Ltd., the startup company behind the proposal, has applied for $14 million in funding from the Building Canada Fund, a federal infrastructure program. Duncan said the proposal will get 鈥渢he required financial support鈥� to proceed.
The company proposes to operate a passenger-only service from a new Nanaimo terminal to downtown 91原创, using two vessels that would run at speeds of about 40 knots.
It鈥檚 not a new idea. In 1969, 91原创 Hovercraft began a foot-ferry between Nanaimo and 91原创. After a little more than a year in operation, the company went bankrupt in 1971.
The next effort, the Royal Sealink Express, operated by the Norwegian firm Kvaerner Fjellstrand, began in 1992, but shut down less than a year later as rider numbers did not meet expectations.
In 2003, Nanaimo Harbour Link Corp. put its HarbourLynx ferry on the route, but that company went bankrupt in 2006.
Lessons can be learned from the mistakes of previous attempts, but are those lessons enough to guarantee a viable venture? That鈥檚 questionable. Is there enough demand to support the service? People are quick to support a new service in a survey, a little slower to open their wallets when it comes time to pay for that service.
鈥淚f you build it, they will come鈥� is a nifty phrase for a movie, but it鈥檚 not a particularly sound business plan.
It鈥檚 understandable that the Conservative whip would be eager to support the project 鈥� it will likely get him some votes 鈥� but where has he been in the overall discussion about B.C.鈥檚 existing coastal ferry services? The federal government chips in about $28 million a year for B.C.鈥檚 ferry services, amounting to a subsidy of about $1.40 a passenger, according to a Union of B.C. Municipalities analysis. Meanwhile, federal funding for Atlantic Canada ferry service amounts to a subsidy of $493 per passenger.
It would be heartening to see federal acknowledgment of that massive inequity and some efforts made to reduce the gap. A new ferry service from Nanaimo, if it can sustain itself, would be welcome, but British Columbians would likely rather see some breaks in the increasingly high cost of travelling on the existing service.
