Cuts to BC Ferries service to Prince Rupert will have far-reaching consequences for all of northern British Columbia, said the port city's mayor.
"We've monitored this situation very closely and we're extremely concerned about implications for the northern economy," said Prince Rupert mayor Jack Mussallem, in a press release. "This is not just a coastal issue."
Mussallem has reached out with the results of a report his city put together studying the potential economic impacts of the cuts to BC Ferries northern routes.
On February 5, transportation minister Todd Stone confirmed there would be $18.9 million in service reductions coming this spring.
This includes a 32% reduction to round trips on the Inside Passage route (Port Hardy-Mid-Coast-Prince Rupert), a 27% reduction in round trips to the route connecting Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert and t.he elimination of Route 40 (mid-coast to Bella Coola). That Discovery Coast Circle Tour connection between Port Hardy and Bella Coola would be replaced by having travellers take the Inside Passage trip to Bella Bella and then transfer to another vessel to continue on to Bella Coola.
Revised schedules are due to be released April 28.
The Prince Rupert report, which has been forwarded to the transportation minister, includes a recommendation calling for a delay of the cuts to 2015 and for a comprehensive economic impact assessment be completed. In a letter sent out to fellow B.C. local government officials, Mussallem encouraged his colleagues to also contact the provincial government to raise concerns.
Northern B.C. Tourism CEO Anthony Everett agreed that it's an issue that affects more than the port communities.
"What we've learned over many years - particularly after the sinking of the Queen of North in 2006 - is our visitors that we are marketing and selling northern B.C. trips to, they take the inside passage ferry and they travel all throughout northern British Columbia into Alberta, into the Yukon," Everett said.
According to the report, more than half of the travellers arriving to Prince Rupert by ferry left by road and 38% left on another ferry system. Nearly 80% of VIA Rail passengers to Prince Rupert left by ferry.
"When contacted for this report, VIA Rail confirmed these numbers and indicated that this level of interconnectivity should make their concern with BC Ferries service cuts very clear," the report said.
The main clientele are international visitors and the quickly approaching cuts are already having an effect on the coming tourist season.
Tourism officials work with tour operators up to two years in advance, so changes to transportation itineraries are particularly damaging.
"The short timeline on reductions in service has had implications, and there are businesses in northern British Columbia that are cancelling business that they had already booked in those portions of September and May where the service has been reduced," said Everett, who would support any postponement in the schedule changes to have a chance to work with tour operators. "We're already seeing some of the impacts."
The Prince Rupert study included input from Prince George businesses that said they were already feeling the consequences from less passengers due to rising ferry fares.
"It does not seem to make any sense that BC Ferries is cutting services more and more, reasoning that the routes are not making enough money," said a submission from Bon Voyage Motor Inn, adding "in cutting more services, especially in the north, BC Ferries is 'shoveling their own grave,' since I think they will become even less profitable."
Meanwhile, one of the largest BC Ferries protests in years is set to take place Tuesday afternoon on the lawn of the provincial legislature in Victoria.
It is being called ‘Defend Our Marine Highways’ and is organized by coastal activists. They want the premier and transportation minister to hear other pleas directly.
The protesters are demanding that the government stop cuts to ferry services, lower the fares and put the ferries back into the highways system
They’re arguing that these are not just coastal issues, but provincial ones.
-With files from Global News
