Protecting Our Islands

Islands Trust and BC Ferries

Introduction

Within the Islands Trust Area, there are 10 designated ferry routes and one unregulated route which serve 14 island communities. The ferry system is an essential lifeline for residents, property owners, businesses and tourists. Over the decades, the BC Ferry system has become to the Gulf Islands what the Sea to Sky Highway is to Whistler and what the Coquihalla Highway is to the BC interior.

The Islands Trust actively advocates on behalf of island communities in regards to ferry services, particularly related to ferry fares. In addition, individual trustees volunteer their time to provide community input to BC Ferries, the BC Ferries Commissioner or the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Four local trustees volunteer as members of BC Ferries Advisory Committees (FACs) that provide advice to BC Ferries:

Sue French (Thetis) (member of Chemainus-Thetis-Penelakut FAC))
Tony Law (Hornby) (Chair of Denman-Hornby FAC)
Laura Busheikin (Denman) (member of Denman-Hornby FAC)
Gisele Rudischer (Gabriola) (member of Gabriola FAC)

Hornby Island Local Trustee Tony Law also chairs the Coastal Communities Ferry Advisory Committee that advises the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) also has a Ferry Committee. The Islands Trust is represented by Hornby Island Local Trustee Tony Law.

Islands Trust Chair Sheila Malcolmson represents the Islands Trust at meetings between coastal community Regional District Chairs and the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Blair Lekstrom and BC Ferries Commissioner Gordon Macatee.

Islands Trust – BC Ferries Protocol Agreement

Note - This agreement is from 1994 and the Islands Trust Executive Committee has asked BC Ferries to work with them in updating this agreement.

PROTOCOL AGREEMENT on FERRY SERVICE IN THE ISLANDS TRUST AREA

Review of the Coastal Ferry Act

Gord Macatee, BC Ferry Commissioner, delivered his review of the Coastal Ferry Act to the Honourable Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure on January 24, 2012. You can see his report here.

Documents and Presentations related to the Islands Trust’s Ferry Advocacy Work

September 15, 2011 Islands Trust Presentation to the BC Ferry Commissioner (2MB)

Some of the slides have speaker notes, which you can read by hovering your mouse over the chat balloon in the top left corner.

Photo - From left to right: Islands Trust Chair Sheila Malcolmson, BC Ferry Deputy Commissioner Sheldon Stoilen and BC Ferry Commissioner Gordon Macatee at a Trust Council session on the impact of ferry fares on island communities. Salt Spring Island, Sept 15, 2011

Union of BC Municipalities Resolution sponsored by the Islands Trust 2009

A MINOR ROUTES STRATEGY FOR COASTAL FERRY SERVICE

WHEREAS the transportation services provided by BC Ferries on minor routes along the south coast are as essential for ferry-dependent communities as the provincial road network is for other communities, and are an integral element of provincial tourism goals, yet have been subject to fare increases of as much as 120% over the last five years;

AND WHEREAS the British Columbia Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs have, through extensive research and analysis, proposed a minor routes strategy that supports the sustainability of island economies and the coastal ferry service;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Union of British Columbia Municipalities request that the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure work with coastal communities and BC Ferries to develop a strategy for the minor southern coastal ferry routes, as proposed by the Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs. Endorsed by 2009 UBCM Conference