BC Ferries CEO addresses Canada Day weekend chaos

An out-of-commission vessel will be back in service along a popular route this week but the CEO of BC Ferries says that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to the frustration for summer travellers on busy routes and holiday weekends.

The Canada Day long weekend saw sold-out sailings, delays, long lines and online-booking issues. The frustration is something Nicholas Jimenez says was only partly due to a key vessel being out of commission for longer than expected.

One boat that travels between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay was inactive due to a unexpectedly delayed maintenance, causing some reservations to be cancelled or rebooked on other vessels.

It's a frustration Lane Cuthbert faced this weekend after his mother tried to return home to Victoria after an unexpected trip. They were told all the sailings were sold out.

"We said to them, 'What's the alternative? If we show up at five in the morning could we get a standby?' And BC Ferries said, 'No, we're doing 90 per cent reservations now,'" he says, adding that scenario could mean a multi-hour delay with no guarantee of ever actually getting on board.

BC Ferries says they've allowed for more reservations on the more popular routes to allow certainty for travellers. But for last-minute and unexpected passengers like Cuthbert's mom, the system can be frustrating.

According to BC Ferries CEO and President Nicolas Jimenez, staffing issues were also to blame this weekend.

"What's not normal is one of our vessels to be delayed at a dry fit and have a number of sailings cancelled at the last minute," he said. "What is normal, is what people have been noticing over the last number of months and, really, the last year which is that we are thin on our staffing levels."

While the out-of-commission vessel will be back in service this week, the staffing issues are something that won’t be as quickly resolved.

"There will be times where we won't be able to have a sailing go out and that is deeply frustrating to our team," Jimenez said.

Both the CEO and the union representing employees confirmed they'll be meeting this month and say wages will be a key priority in their discussions.

"Positions on BC Ferries, depending on what they are, are somewhere between 18 and 40 per cent behind comparable within the industry," said Eric McNeely the provincial president of the B.C. Ferry Marine Workers Union.

"If someone was wanting to drive the Coquihalla, they wouldn't want to be paralyzed by an IT issue, a staff issue or pay a reservation just to get on it," said McNeely.

For Cuthbert's family of five, the only option to try and work around the sold-out sailings was to travel without a vehicle, something he says is not actually an option at all.

"That means we'd have to hop on a bus that's four hours away on transit with a stroller, car seats, boosters, luggage and three kids under 10. Then, on the Island, lug that around on transit there? It's absurd," he said, adding he thinks passengers and people who rely on ferries need to advocate for change.