To hear Transportation Minister Todd Stone tell it, B.C. is badgering Ottawa every chance it gets for some basic national fairness when it comes to subsidizing ferry systems on the east and west coasts.
"On every occasion when the opportunity presents itself in interactions with federal ministers, I certainly raise this issue of a level of federal subsidy," he said. "This government has certainly pointed out that there is, in our opinion, an inequity there. We will continue to point that out and work collaboratively with our federal partners."
He outlined that stance in the legislature this week. It's a picture of some low-grade nagging for more money, conducted as politely as possible.
But it's not a picture of a government raising any kind of serious hell about the ludicrous disparities in the federal subsidies, partly because it's been so unfair for so long that complaining about it is futile. And partly because the B.C. Liberals have a long-standing policy of not starting public fights with Ottawa.
The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce a few years ago reported on how B.C. compares to Newfoundland when it comes to ferry subsidies.
Marine Atlantic carried 380,000 passengers from the Rock to the mainland on a budget of $222 million and $133 million of that -- 60 per cent -- came from government funding. B.C. Ferries carried almost 20 million on a budget four times higher and got $27 million from the federal government. Government funding was about 28 per cent of the budget and the vast majority of it was a provincial subsidy.
The short explanation for the difference is: Newfoundland made ferry subsidies a condition of joining Confederation in 1949. B.C. held out for a railway. The railway served its purpose, but it looks like the ferry subsidy is a sweeter deal in the modern age.
An assortment of radical moves have been made or are underway to brighten B.C. Ferries' financial picture. Fare hikes, service cuts, cable ferries, LNG conversions and even a bridge to Galiano Island are on the table or underway.
But the quickest, easiest fix would be an infusion of new, ongoing federal dollars, with the demand based on how unfair the east-west treatment is. Vancouver Sun columnist Stephen Hume this week cited the Atlantic subsidy as being 350 times higher than the Pacific one.
Stone said B.C. is aggressively pursuing that issue and has had numerous face-to-face meetings with federal ministers. But he's got nothing to show for it.
B.C. Ferries was similarly left out in the cold in the big federal infrastructure spending splurge. Vancouver Sun reporter Rob Shaw reported this week how Stone was "baffled" on the criteria for being eligible for those billions.
He said they've been told numerous times nothing to do with ferries fits the rules. So while the company has hundreds of millions in inescapable new capital costs coming, it's closed off from getting some federal help in paying for them.
B.C. doesn't exactly have clean hands when it comes to complaining about bizarre discrepancies, given the fact Interior taxpayers ride lake ferries for free, while coastal residents pay through the nose. But if there is any potential to extract money from Ottawa for ferries, the government will overlook that oddity and pursue equity with Newfoundland.
Stone also said he's pursuing every opportunity on another oddity. Federally set crew levels in B.C. are about twice as high as Washington state's requirements.
That adds significantly to labour costs, although they're partly offset by the fact the larger complements are used to generate revenue through ancillary services such as the restaurants.
Said Stone: "We are also working with Transport Canada on other issues that we think could assist us in our efforts to drive down fares, including looking at crewing levels, for example."
While waiting for any rescue boats full of money from Ottawa, the corporation is also waiting for the latest price cap from the independent ferry commissioner, due in the next few weeks. That's the overall formula that sets fare hikes for the next few years and it includes a verdict of sorts on all the moves made in the last year.
