thank you for your service to b.c. ferries ... now you're fired
vaughn palmer: b.c. ferries ditches long-standing community committees for an as-yet-not-designed 'new era of engagement' with the public
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the bc ferries vessel spirit of vancouver island leaves tsawwassen, b.c., bound for swartz bay on sept. 9.
darryl dyck
/
the canadian press
victoria — when b.c. ferries staged a conference call with its long-standing community advisory committees last week, it was to deliver the news that their services were no longer wanted. “i’m boggled,” diana mumford, chair of one of the 13 all-volunteer panels said. “they thanked us for our service — their deepest gratitude for all the work that we’ve done. but now you’re fired.”
adding to the insult, the ferry corporation asked: “could you please stay around until the end of april, so we come up with a new plan?”
mumford chairs the advisory committee for the southern sunshine coast. she also chairs a panel of the heads of all the committees.
the committees were established by the ndp government of the 1990s “as part of b.c. ferries’ goal to be customer and community centred,” according to a post still on the ferries’ website.
“committees provide input on decisions related to schedules, terminals, and routes (and) support their communities by providing input and advocacy. members are volunteers, chosen to represent a variety of local and community interests.”
the committees have performed their duties for three decades. some volunteers have been around longer than the corporate brass on the receiving end of the advice.
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now the ferry corporation has decided to dispense with their services in favour of a “new model, reflecting the importance of more effectively incorporating digital engagement.”
as well as being “digital” and “responsive,” the new model is supposed to be “more inclusive.”
however, the ferries’ website maintains that the existing committees are already inclusive: “b.c. ferries supports equity and diversity and encourages applications from all individuals including women, visible minorities, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (2slgbtqi+), and others.”
the ferry corporation will spend the next few months finalizing the replacement. hence the request for volunteers to remain at their posts until the new model is ready to go in may.
which seems like a case of getting the seaborne equivalent of putting the cart before the horse, according to mumford.
“we said why couldn’t this have been an enhanced version rather than throw out the bathwater, shoot the messenger and then move into something completely new, which they hope to design within a four-month period,” she told jas johal on cknw last week.
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the pitch got nowhere. if the ndp-appointed board chair, joy macphail, and her handpicked ceo, nicolas jimenez, haven’t decided on the next model, they’ve clearly already determined to get rid of the current one.
the website suggests that the corporation had already soured on regular meetings with the irksome know-it-alls on the advisory panels. b.c. ferries is supposed to meet twice a year with each of the 13 panels. for all of 2024, the website lists only one meeting with one panel.
on the day after giving notice to the advisory committees, jimenez indicated that the corporation was heading for another financial crisis.
fare increases were capped at 3.2 per cent a year for four years thanks to a $500 million injection of cash from the provincial government in 2023.
when that expires, look out according to a statement from the ceo: “our forecast in 2023 was that an approximately 30 per cent fare increase would be needed in 2028 simply to keep up and manage our operating and capital costs. since that time, inflation and costs have increased even faster across many aspects of our business and we are facing a growing funding gap as demands on our system increase.”
the prospect of a 30 per cent fare increase drew an exasperated response from premier david eby, coming as it did just two years after he approved the last bailout.
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“i’ve got to say, we sent a lot of money to b.c. ferries in exchange for a commitment from them that they would keep fares flat for british columbians,” he told al ferraby on cfax radio.
“we need to see from them some efforts around cost control, particularly related to administration and the decisions that they’re making in this cos-sensitive time.
“we’ll work with them to make sure that we’re addressing those unavoidable cost inflation items,” eby continued. “but that is not an excuse for b.c. ferries not to look internally and say, ok, what are we spending money on in terms of administration and overhead that’s not delivering services. where can we cut some of that to ensure that we’re doing our part.”
good advice on the face of it. but consider the source.
the new democrats have increased full-time employment in the government by a third in seven years. the total payout for wages and benefits has jumped 60 per cent over the same period.
eby inherited a surplus budget when he took office two years ago. he has since produced enough red ink to float a ferry boat or two.
the premier is right about the ferries needing to find ways to head off a 30 per cent fare increase. but the eby government is hardly the role model for doing more with less.
