Finance committee  No, BC Ferries is not. It's a tricky one, Mr. Chair. BC Ferries operates as a private company. It is a private company. The way it is structured is that it has one share that is owned by a not-for-profit corporation. However, when the Government of British Columbia created legi

Finance committee  We have had discussions with the Department of Finance and even with the Canada Revenue Agency, which delivers the program. As indicated, in any discussion we've had, the statement was that we made a compelling case for BC Ferries to be designated as a prescribed organization. As

Finance committee  I can start, if you wish. A minority of our members have access to the wage subsidy. The great majority do not.

Finance committee  We've written to the federal government, to ministers and ministers' offices. I have to say that we have received replies from political staff. We have not received any definitive reply, though.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to thank you for giving the Canadian Ferry Association a voice at the committee. Our members transport over 55 million people, 22 million vehicles, and billions of dollars of goods—at least, they did until COVID-19. Ferry operators have seen a dr

Fisheries committee  A lot of our members on the west coast are members of the ECHO program, and the Port of Vancouver is doing a great job on that. I'm happy to see Carrie here and talking about that. On the east coast, our members are sharing information with either DFO or the scientific communit

Fisheries committee  If I may, it is indeed decades. I would agree with that. Our problem here is that there are potential solutions, but we have a fleet that's aging. When we build a ship, it's for decades. Right now we have some members who are wanting to refit their fleet and make changes, includi

Fisheries committee  I think the ship strikes were an issue for the right whales in Atlantic Canada, and on the west coast we're talking about noise reduction. I'll talk about Atlantic Canada. I think Mr. Doherty asked whether or not ferries were responsible for ship strikes. The fact of the matter

Fisheries committee  About a year and a half ago, or a year and a bit, I met with Transport Canada officials. Their statement to me was that we have to reduce the speed of ferries to protect the southern resident killer whales. My reply was, “Do you understand that if we do reduce the speed of ferrie

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I act as the chief executive officer of the Canadian Ferry Association. Our association represents ferry owners, operators, and suppliers to the ferry sector in Canada. Our members run a fleet of more than 160 ferries, employ close to 10,000 pe

Transport committee  I just want to make a very quick note. You talked about bringing the government in as a leader, and that's good, but bring the whole sector in. You talked about 70% of the goods being transported by trucks, but the trucks go on ferries, which go on.... It's a network; it's not j

Transport committee  Often, when purchasing a new ferry, operations must be carried out to ensure the safety of the vessel and how it is used. That is what is being done in the case of the Northern Sea Wolf, as was done in other regions. From time to time, there are delays in some projects. BC Ferrie

Transport committee  I would not say that it is reaching the end of its life. In fact, I would not would not speak from the BC Ferries perspective in particular, but that of ferries in general, across the country. The Société des traversiers du Québec, which is one of our members, is renewing part of

Transport committee  The more time that is taken renewing the fleet, particularly when there is a need to do so, the more problems there are in some aspect. I will give you some examples. When delays are imposed for the renewal of a fleet, there are vessels that are less effective and that burn more

Transport committee  I'll give you the example of the new Building Canada fund, which initially was announced by the previous government. Other than the short sea shipping, which could potentially have supported the activities of some of our members, our ferry operators were not eligible because main