The ferry problems that might have been prevented by Salt Spring’s extinct Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) are starting to stack up.
On the poorly received Route 6 homeporting issue, there is little doubt had a FAC still been in place — and, of course, had BC Ferries asked — it could have warned of the substantial community pushback waiting in the wings, should the ferry company follow through with abandoning its long practice of keeping a ferry in Vesuvius overnight. And seasoned FAC members — many with deep understandings of both maritime operations and island living — might even have workshopped a solution, heading off the imbroglio currently undermining public confidence in the ferry service.
Next it abruptly emerged that one in seven Salt Spring vehicle owners here may have to save up for a barge fund, just in case their electric car or truck (or school bus) needs a tow off island. It’s a policy shift BC Ferries made public only after denying a planned boarding — and again, a FAC consultation would likely have produced a solution to balance shipboard safety concerns with the reality of EV adoption on Salt Spring and other islands.
On Gabriola Island, that FAC responded to being summarily dismissed by re-forming, this time as a “Ferry Advocacy Committee,” to continue its work, as it were, unbidden — a path Salt Spring may wish to emulate. We hear Gabriola’s switch to the same Island Class vessels we expect at Vesuvius by 2027 has brought an unexpected routine there of puzzle-solving during loadings and other confounding problems — and we eagerly await communication on that matter from their “new” FAC.
Clearly, well-intentioned and problematic ferry initiatives are nothing new to islanders; when the first purpose-built Gulf Islands vessel started service to Salt Spring in 1963, Driftwood readers reported regular loading delays, despite its innovative (if short-lived) onboard vehicle turntable.
But in shifting from a panel-of-experts model to a more egalitarian “all feedback welcome” process, while BC Ferries could be commended for seeking to broaden its input sources, unforced errors like these should send new plans back to the drawing board, if not the wastebin.