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Post by WettCoast on Jun 24, 2013 9:15:23 GMT -8
It is not BC Ferries' mismanagement; it is mismanagement by the Government of BC. When the people of BC chose to extend the rein of the BC Liberals to 16 years, I assume that few of them (the voters, that is) put any thought at all into the state of our ferry system. Ms Clark & company will continue to muddle along and we will have to wait & see what happens... The T-C editorial is a good one, btw.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 24, 2013 9:22:34 GMT -8
So what ideas do you have to solve BC Ferries' mismanagement problem? Elected board members from each district that the ferries service; reduce the wages of the top people. Go hybrid ferries which would reduce the cost of operation due to less diesel be used.
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Post by DENelson83 on Jun 24, 2013 20:12:54 GMT -8
It is not BC Ferries' mismanagement; it is mismanagement by the Government of BC. Too bad the Government of BC will deny that, as they think BC Ferries is not their problem anymore. Unfortunately, it is very much the Government's problem, as no matter what they have done to push BC Ferries away from their purview, it is still a government agency and still needs to be treated like one.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 8, 2013 11:04:09 GMT -8
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,190
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Post by Neil on Aug 8, 2013 21:47:31 GMT -8
I agree with the NDP's Claire Trevena; these 'consultations' are a farce. BC Ferries, and Christy Clark, will do what they're going to do, after making a show of asking people to tell them what sort of wood they want the baseball bat to be made of that they're going to whack us with.
At the cable ferry meeting today on Hornby, one questioner asked Mark Wilson what the point of all these meetings were, since people expressed unanimously and clearly that they didn't want a cable ferry but were getting one anyway. Wilson shrugged in exasperation and didn't really answer the question, but the fact is, BC Ferries was simply going through the motions that are required by the Coastal Ferry Act, and the protocols that have become the norm as part of the FAC setup. The whole thing is pointless, and it fools no one.
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cpt
Oiler (New Member)
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Post by cpt on Sept 28, 2013 5:07:54 GMT -8
I know this is way over the head of BC Ferry management and BC Gov intelligent level but it was worth posting.
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[moderator edits: - parts of this same cut/paste were posted as 3 different replies. I deleted 2 and kept this, as this was the most extensive of the 3 - I've edited out the "Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services" and "6" reader count items; why leave that stuff in on this post when it's not relevant to this post? - A web-link to the original source would be helpful. Is this from a travel agency website, a newspaper, a trade magazine? - I've put Frances Cook's part of the post into quotes, assuming that this is the cut/paste part from an outside publication. end of moderator edits]
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Post by Mike C on Oct 21, 2013 14:35:05 GMT -8
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mrdot
Voyager
Mr. DOT
Posts: 1,252
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Post by mrdot on Oct 21, 2013 20:24:37 GMT -8
crusty explaining ferry salleries, or actually doing something about it, is kind of like harper sweeping his pork barrell senators under the rug! mrdot.
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Post by DENelson83 on Oct 21, 2013 20:30:56 GMT -8
crusty explaining ferry salleries, or actually doing something about it, is kind of like harper sweeping his pork barrell senators under the rug! mrdot. BC Ferries extracted all the teeth from the BC Government. They think they're an unbreachable fortress. I think it's now time for a class-action lawsuit against the BC Government for their deaf abuse of our marine highway.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,190
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Post by Neil on Oct 21, 2013 21:57:13 GMT -8
Christy's so tough. How DARE BC Ferries charge these fares? How DARE they pay these bonuses?
Well, Christy... you, and your party, set BC Ferries up as a 'private' company, and told them to operate as such... which means, charging what the public will bear, and paying bonuses to execs. Hello... that was the deal.
But, no worries. Come 2030, the coast will be covered with LNG terminals and the province will be so rich... ferry travel will be free.
Right?
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Post by compdude787 on Oct 21, 2013 22:26:25 GMT -8
You know, it's too bad that all this media coverage and outrage about executive bonuses has completely overshadowed the Denman Island cable-ferry fiasco. I do believe that these corporate perks and bonuses are an unnecessary expense for the company, but I'm afraid that even bigger storm clouds are on the horizon for BCF when it comes to the imminent cable-ferry catastrophe. The whole "semi-privatization" of BCF has been a complete epic fail as we all know very well, and if you don't think so then you're either living under a rock or on Mars.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 15, 2013 17:05:15 GMT -8
CBC Radio reported today that the Provincial Govt or BC Ferries (or both?) will be announcing planned service cuts; on Monday Nov.18th at 9:30am.
- Apparently this will be their planned cuts, which will be followed by some mock consultations.
I wasn't expecting this, this soon. January 2014 is when cuts are supposed to be announced. - this is all regarding the further $xx million in cost savings that the Ferry Company is supposed to come up with, mandated by the Province.
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This here thread is the place to post the news on Monday, and our reactions to it. - if there is any.
This expected Monday announcement is the next step in the drawn-out process of the Coastal Ferry Act review and the Government's response to that review.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 16, 2013 0:20:34 GMT -8
Just a summary of how we got here in this Government Review of ferries: It started in early 2011, when BC Ferries was following the process for setting fares for the period of April 2012 to March 2016. The Commissioner approved fare increases of 8% for minor routes. This was following the official process where BC Ferries showed how much it would cost to provide the Government's mandated level of service (ie. the number of sailings on each route) and the Ferry Commissioner approved BC Ferries analysis and thus approved the fare increases. So, this process was going on during early 2011, because they had to have the decisions on fares in place well before April 2012. Then the new Transportation Minister (Blair Lekstrom) decided that an 8% increase for the minor routes was dangerous politically and so he stepped in and overrode the process. He said: - Hold off on the April 2012 - March 2016 fare proposals - Lets take some time to stop and think about the whole system, because these fares are getting too high and maybe there's a problem with our system. - In the meantime, here's a few million extra in subsidy, so hold the 2012 fare increase at just 4%. We'll get back to you later. So then the BC Government started the process of consultation and review of the ferry act itself, to see whether their ideal system was working properly or not. - It was the political danger of the looming 8% fare increase for April 2012 that got Minister Lekstrom's attention. (my editorial comment). The Provincial Government finally realized that their model for BC Ferries was not sustainable, in terms of the public's ability to pay the required fares. Fast forward to November 2013: - It appears that the Provincial Gov't is set to explain what they've concluded about BC Ferries system being broken. I expect that the conclusion will be that they think the system is not sustainable because its providing too much service. They will say that the problem is that there are too many under-utilized sailings. The Provincial Government will cut sailings, in order to allow BC Ferries to save costs. This will allow fares to stay at 4% range of annual increases, which is better politically for the government. That's what I think is coming. We'll find out next week, maybe. ============ Here's the Lekstrom override that started this all...
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 17, 2013 18:03:37 GMT -8
Another news story to set the scene for Monday morning: ( bolds are mine, to make it easier to see the points) from HERE
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Post by compdude787 on Nov 18, 2013 9:21:21 GMT -8
BCF is not sustainable because it is providing too much service? LOL! So "too much service" is defined as being any sailing that is not full to the brim? That's sad.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 9:52:10 GMT -8
And here's today's first story, from CBC news: HEREI'll post more details when I can find them. Or anyone else, please.
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Post by Taxman on Nov 18, 2013 10:09:23 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 10:13:44 GMT -8
The CBC report now has more detail:
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 10:20:50 GMT -8
Here's the link to the DETAIL on the first round of service reductions:HEREIn this link, there is a page for each route, and the Bold-Outline sailings are the cancelled ones. - there is also text on each route-page that describes which specific sailings are cut. (This is too detailed to cut/paste into this thread) ----------- Here's a HUGE one:
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 10:27:26 GMT -8
...and here are the next 3 largest reductions:
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 10:30:35 GMT -8
And here's the largest reduction for a non-northern route:
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Post by gordon on Nov 18, 2013 12:00:55 GMT -8
Is it the Discovery Coasst Passage Route that was cancelled?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 12:17:25 GMT -8
Is it the Discovery Coasst Passage Route that was cancelled? Yes.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 18, 2013 12:25:16 GMT -8
Today's news release mentions a $200-million improvement to Horseshoe Bay, and that any service cuts or changes to Routes 3 & 2 & 30 would need to be done in connection with any planned changes to Horseshoe Bay.
We'll find out what this means in a few months, but who knows if this will drastically change the status-quo, and whether Horseshoe Bay will be made to run fewer or more routes?
I have no idea, at this time. But the eventual news could be significant.
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Post by Cable Cassidy on Nov 18, 2013 12:31:17 GMT -8
So, maybe the Spirits will loose their buffets and instead get slot machines?
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