BC Ferries adding more executives ‘doesn’t make any sense’: BC United

The BC United Party is taking aim at BC Ferries after the former crown corporation announced it would add more executives to its leadership team.

Transportation critic Trevor Halford says the government is not taking the ferries’ constant staffing problems and cancellations seriously enough.

On Thursday, BC Ferries announced the leadership changes and said the company will be in better positions to address short and long-term challenges — but Halford doesn’t see how.

“They’re adding new executives and four vice president positions at a time when they’re having labor challenges — extreme labor challenges — at a time where they’re having maintenance issues and mechanical breakdowns and we’ve got ships out of service for a month at a time,” he said.

“People are looking for consistency and reliability.”

One of the company’s largest vessels — the Coastal Renaissance — has been out of service for months, and after Thanksgiving BC ferries will shelf another ferry out for repairs as well.

In one case, a Sunshine Coast area ferry saw 12 cancellations after a single crew member couldn’t make it to work.

Halford says he’s among the thousands of B.C. residents who rely on the ferry system for essential travel, and changes at the leadership level make him question BC Ferries’ priorities.

“They’ve got a reservation system — an IT system — that was completely out of date and inadequate, that absolutely was catastrophic during the summer season,” he said. “I think people are having a very hard long look at what BC Ferries is doing and really what the provincial government is doing in order to make sure that they’re using these funds adequately.”

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Earlier this week, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced the province will charge BC Ferries penalties of $7,000 per sailing missed on major routes and $1,000 per sailing missed on specific minor routes.

However, Halford says that doesn’t make much of a difference unless the fines go directly to BC Ferries’ leadership team, as provincial funding going to the corporation means taxpayers are realistically the ones paying those fines.

“If you want to make a real difference in terms of the fines of BC Ferries, let’s fine the executives that are making over half a million dollars at BC Ferries — let’s start there,” he said.

“Issuing $7,000 fines to the taxpayer … I don’t think that makes a lot of sense.”