From CBC: Vehicle speeds off B.C. ferry and sinks at Gabriola Island. A speeding car broke through a barrier gate and then drove off a docked BC Ferries boat early Wednesday. A release from BC Ferries said that at about 3:45 a.m. PT, a vehicle at the Descanso Bay terminal sped through the gate at [...]
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From The Tyee: Audit shows asbestos troubles continued on BC Ferries. A BC Ferries official worried in an email that continued problems with asbestos would leave the publicly owned company vulnerable to a $150,000 fine if its management of the material again comes to WorkSafe BC’s attention. (…) A Sept. 4, 2012 report summarised the [...]
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Today the Islands Trust released a press release entitled ISLANDS TRUST COUNCIL ASKS PROVINCE TO INVEST IN FERRIES. Here it is:
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From the Nanaimo Daily News: Upset Gabriola Islanders discuss own ferry system. Frustrated Gabriola Island residents considered asking B.C. Ferries for a passenger-only service and starting up their own community ferry, during a grassroots meeting Saturday. Gabriola Island hosted a meeting on the future of B.C. Ferries, after what advocates called a flawed and unproductive [...]
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Oh, how dreary: this bridge nonsense again! From the Nanaimo Daily News: Residents unhappy as notion of bridge to Gabriola Island is raised during talks. The B.C. government has revived the contentious possibility of bridges to small island communities, angering Gabriola Island residents and politicians who have long fought to quash the idea. The B.C. [...]
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Dyan Dunsmoor-Farley sent this along for us: In response to rising ferry fares and a flawed provincial government approach to consultation, the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) and Sustainable Gabriola are hosting a made on Gabriola ferry consultation on December 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Community Hall. It will feature anything [...]
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From the Comox Valley Echo: The big lie about our ferry system. BC Ferries actually admitted that it was increasing fares to pay for the drop in ridership and warnings came (in 2011) from BC Ferries that there would likely be cutbacks in the service on a number of its routes in order to further [...]
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Oh, you know that ferry consultation thing? Here’s an article about it from the Campbell River Mirror: Abram: Ferry consultation complete sham. Strathcona Regional District Director Jim Abram says the province’s upcoming public engagement process to find savings within BC Ferries is a complete sham. Abram, director representing Quadra Island, revealed Monday morning why a [...]
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From CBC: BC Ferries public hearings to focus on costs, services. B.C.’s Transportation Minister Mary Polak is asking the public to take part in a consultation process on the future of BC Ferries to help find a better balance between service and costs. As part of the process, the government will host open houses and [...]
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Gabriola residents who travel into Nanaimo on any sort of regular basis will know what it’s like when things go wrong with the ferry system. Here’s news from Bowen Island, an island also served by a small ferry: Islander submits invoice for lost time to BC Ferries. On October 21, BC Ferries received an invoice [...]
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Some ferry passengers had added excitement this morning according to this press release from from BC Ferries: VICTORIA – A fire was detected in the bow thruster compartment of the Queen of New Westminster just after the vessel departed Tsawwassen at 10:15 am bound for Duke Point this morning. The fire has been suppressed. No [...]
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Gabriola musicians who travel back and forth between Vancouver and Gabriola might want to consider busking while on the big ferry. CBC reports that Headwater makes $83,000 busking on BC Ferries. They set sail for Vancouver Island, and ended up coming home with a whole boatload of treasure. In 2008, Vancouver indie folk quartet Headwater [...]
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Gabriola is used to increases in ferry fares. Will we have to get used to service cuts, too? We’re certainly hearing more and more about this. From CTV News: Plenty of room for ferry service cuts: islanders. As BC Ferries works to find $30 million in costs to cut, Gulf Island residents say money is [...]
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Do you ever leave your car overnight at the Descanso Bay ferry terminal? You’d best not do that on August 16th, 22nd, or 23rd, because BC Ferries will be painting lines in the lot that night, and they’ll tow any cars that are in the way. The official notice from BC Ferries:
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From the Times Colonist: BC Ferries ship part of University of Victoria’s Venus research effort targeting ocean change. Paul Macoun had a straightforward request for BC Ferries: he wanted to punch a hole through the hull of the Queen of Alberni, one of the busiest ferries in the fleet. I had lots of engineers frowning [...]
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We’ve pondered those uncomfortable seats BC Ferries seems to install these days, both on ships like the Quinsam and in waiting rooms. Some of you would like a softer seat, but you can’t exactly take a big comfy chair from home into the waiting room, can you? Perhaps this is somebody’s next-best-thing. Look, it’s comfy [...]
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From the Daily News: Ferry users guarded over impact of recent changes. Amendments made to the Coastal Ferry Act this week were greeted with enthusiasm Thursday by local stakeholders, while the conspicuous absence of other suggested measures, such as restraints on fare increases, were largely treated with guarded optimism. [continue] The article quotes three Gabriola [...]
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By now you’ve probably heard of Phillip Vannini, who lives on Gabriola, teaches in Victoria, and wrote Ferry Tales: Mobility, Place, and Time on Canada’s West Coast. Today the Bowen Island Undercurrent has an article on Philip and his work: Mind the gap (or not). It includes this bit: Vannini inquired about the various signs [...]
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