Powell River Queen

[Retrovision]

would be like taking the Capilano from the Snug Cove route, unless of course you replace the Skeena with a larger ferry. However, I read on a site, oddly-enough linked from the page of that caperrr fraudulent-ebay-seller, that the Skeena Queen uses the "...largest footprint possible for the terminals...".

[Neil]

I can believe it. That's one of the characteristics of the 'barge' type ferries- they're quite wide, with all their lounge space port and starboard on the car deck.

[Low Light Mike]

I've been on a Hansard-kick lately, and here's another excerpt.....this one from a 1979 BC Legislature sitting, where Powell River MLA Don Lockstead (NDP opposition) is asking a question about the Powell River Queen.

I think this is interesting history for us ferry-nerds:
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I have one further item along this line, Mr. Chairman. On March 21 of this year I wrote to the minister and asked about a supplementary vessel to serve Rote 7, between Earls Cove and Saltery Bay-Powell River, as the present Powell River Queen had been stretched, and I knew that the Ferry Corporation will very often take a supplementary vessel off after they stretch a ferry. As it turned out, this was the case.

So I asked the minister, knowing that there were going to be problems this summer, to make sure that there was a supplementary vessel on Route 7 this summer. I didn't receive a reply from the minister, and in the meantime we were put into an election campaign. Lo and behold, about two-thirds of the way through the campaign, the Social Credit candidate in my riding made an announcement about a supplementary vessel being placed on that particular route, and everybody in Powell River was very happy about it. But that is not so bad. I can understand that he perhaps had access to information from somebody in the ministry, and the minister was busy with his own campaign and didn't have time to write and let me know, even though I was still the MLA for the area.

What bothers me a bit is that Mr. K. Sorko is on the board of directors of the B.C. Ferry Corporation. I haven't got my copy of the thing here, but Mr. K. Sorko was, during the election, the campaign manager for the Social Credit Party candidate in my riding. Did that candidate receive that information from you or Mr. Sorko? Where did he get that information? I didn't get that information until May 29, when the ferry was practically in service and everybody in town knew about it anyway. If that's not political, I'd like to know what is. I'm a bit disturbed that a director of the B.C. Ferry Corporation, who was a campaign manager for a Social Credit Party candidate, would possibly make that information available to that candidate at that time.

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[Retrovision]

Thank you for your research (and time), Mr. Horn.

[Low Light Mike]

I enjoy history, facts, reading, and sharing.

The legislature-debate minutes on internet (Hansard) is a gold-mine of history, complete with humour from the characters of the day.

Unfortunately with the change to private BC Ferry Services Inc, this type of debate is no longer on the public record. In the old days, the Legislature could be accused of micromanaging BC Ferries (or at least micro-managing in questioning, as the key decisions were likely made behind closed doors by cabinet), but at least it was somewhat transparent.

[Engineer]

hornbyguy said:

'wrong sorry'

Engineer: Could you elaborate on that? My brother is a twenty five year Bowen resident, and they had been told the Howe Sound Queen was going to be replaced. Was that information wrong?

(I guess this should be on the Capilano thread)

Yes it will be replaced, but by which ship? there have been plans for years to build new intermediate ferries. But it never happens.....
what the ferries down town tell the public and what really happens so a different story. Us little people on the ships don't know any thing lol. I think it would of stayed up there if the legs didnt crap out so much.