B.C. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond is trying to ease fears over huge increases in ferry rates.
BC Ferries President David Hahn said fares may rise 20 per cent on the main routes, 60 per cent on the minor ones and up to 100 per cent on the northern routes over the next four years.
He blamed "soft" ridership and rising costs.
Bond said Hahn is just putting forward his company's projections but the B.C. Ferry Commissioner will have to review the submissions before any final decisions are made and that won't come until September.
"There is no intention to increase fares tomorrow," she said. "There is a process under way that would impact fares more than a year from now, so in fact there's a lot of work to be done."
Bond said BC Ferries should also be looking for cost saving measures that could reduce the impact of any fare hikes.
Hahn said the provincial government could reduce the fare hikes by increasing its subsidy to the company, but Bond wouldn't say if the government will boost the subsidy, which currently sits at $150 million a year.
NDP ferries critic Gary Coons called the fare hikes "business as usual for the million dollar man at the helm," a reference to Hahn's annual pay.
Coons said fares have rocketed out of control since the B.C. Liberals privatized the ferries in 2003 and repeated the NDP's call for a moratorium on fare hikes until a review of the privatization is conducted.
