Breadcrumb Trail Links
NewsLocal NewsLocal BusinessBusiness
B.C. Ferries called off the regular meetings for ferry users in September, after one participant threatened Ferries officials
Article content
After five months and missing several self-imposed deadlines, B.C. Ferries has still not resumed public consultation meetings on ferry services.
B.C. Ferries called off the regular meetings for ferry users in September, after one participant threatened Ferries officials at a meeting of the Southern Sunshine Coast ferry advisory committee in Gibsons.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Article content
While the corporation said its public consultation sessions would be moved online, the chair of the Southern Sunshine Coast committee, Diana Mumford, says ever since, her committee has been “continually ignored” by the ferry company.
Mumford said B.C. Ferries originally said meetings would resume at the end of October, then said it would be the beginning of 2024, and most recently have estimated that early spring is when in-person meetings may resume.
More than 40 frustrated ferry users attended the September meeting in Gibsons, which followed the cancellation of 32 sailings over two months.
A member of the public said they blamed “a lot of the problems” on the ferry company’s reservation system, then threatened to “take a gun” to B.C. Ferries if they increased the number of reservation spots above 50 per cent of vessel capacity.
After the meeting, Brian Anderson, Ferries vice-president of strategy and community engagement, suspended in-person events, telling advisory committee chairs the corporation would implement a safety and security plan for such meetings.
West Coast Homes
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
He cited a rise in “aggressive, threatening and abusive behaviour. … It our goal is to resume face-to-face meetings as soon as possible as guided by the safety plan.”
Mumford said that the individual who made the threat apologized to B.C. Ferries shortly afterwards and promised not to attend any meetings in the future, asking them not to blame the advisory committee for what they said.
“It’s like we’ve all got class detention. All of the (committees) are being punished by one incident that happened at our meeting,” Mumford said.
Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries’ executive director of public affairs, said in a statement that after the Sunshine Coast incident, the company became aware that aggressive and abusive behaviour had been taking place at several community events but was going unreported.
“The security review concluded that, without changes, we would be at risk of non-compliance with several WorkSafeBC regulations as well as some of our own internal policies to ensure a safe workplace for our people,” she wrote.
Mumford concern is that without in-person meetings, the opportunity for ferry users to provide feedback on the company plans and operations has simply disappeared.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Some advisory committee chairs are so discouraged that they have talked about quitting and starting a completely separate group, saying they are tired of the “royal runaround,” said Mumford.
“We bring a lot of knowledge and expertise about the flavour of our communities,” she said. “More so than they’re going to get in the atrium in Victoria.”
Jordan Copp is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Coast Reporter. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.
Article content
Share this article in your social network
