BC
FERRY Increases of 20%, 50% and 100% Sign of Extreme Management Failure
by BC First
A new round of never-ending
rate increases just announced by BC Ferry Corporation CEO David Hahn is a sign
of extreme management failure says BC First spokesman, Chris Delaney.
Delaney says the BC Ferry Corporation is
still in the midst of yearly rate increases announced in 2008 that were set to
last until 2012. “The new increases of up to 20% on major routes, 50% on minor
routes, and as much as 100% for northern routes set to take place starting in
2012 means the cost of running the Ferry system in BC is unsustainable under the
current model.”
“The rates continue to rise well beyond the
rate of inflation, and yet the Ferries continue to require subsidies by
government to remain cost affordable by any definition. This means privatization
of the Ferry system management has been a failure,” said Delaney.
Delaney says the increases, which include
up to 100% more for so called “oversize” RVs will also harm tourism to the
Islands, a major economic driver in the region.
“We were told that privatization would make
the Ferry system more affordable and more efficient. That simply has not
happened. Instead of subsidizing the cost of the Ferries, BC taxpayers are
subsidizing the incompetence of a semi-private company that pays its CEO $1
million per year, along with exorbitant salaries to other senior executives’ and
board members that are double the going rate for similar executives in the
private sector. It’s like we are subsidizing a country club.”
Delaney says the BC Ferry Corporation is
bloated in every aspect of its operations, using 4,500 employees to move 2
million less passengers every year than neighbouring Washington State Ferry
Corporation does with 1,800 employees. He says the BC Liberal Government
decision to build new ferries in Germany rather than at the North Vancouver
shipyards has also had an overall negative impact on Ferry costs.
“Those are tax dollars that have gone out
of the province forever. Had the ships been built here, those dollars would have
circulated back into our economy, and back into the Ferries operations,” said
Delaney.
Delaney says BC First believes the BC Ferry
system should be returned to public ownership and administration, and treated as
part of the highway system.
“If we have to subsidize it as we are now,
then we should be controlling the use of tax dollars and fares for the public’s
benefit, rather than giving them to a private company that is reaping huge
bonuses and rewards while failing to keep costs in line even with inflation. It
is clear that consumers of Ferry service and all taxpayers in BC are not getting
value for their dollars,” Delaney concluded.
-30-
News
Release
www.bcfirst.com
