MLA Jennifer Rice's office feels the heat over week long ferry cancellation

There is not a lot of a activity at the BC Ferry Terminal in Prince Rupert
that after BC Ferries suspended service in and out of the city for a week

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice offered her first public comments on the ongoing cancellation of BC Ferry service on Tuesday, the MLA using her Social Media platform to take note of the situation and observe as to some possible solutions that may be in the works for frustrated and stranded travellers.

As we noted yesterday afternoon, BC Ferries has kept the Northern Adventure tied up at dock since Sunday, having cancelled all of the vessel runs for this week owing to staffing shortages, some of which have been related to COVID cases among crew members.

In her updates, the MLA noted of plans by BC Ferries to introduce barge service and flight charters to move travellers from Haida Gwaii to Prince Rupert, as well as to advise travellers to hold onto all of their receipts for reimbursement on a case by case basis

BC Ferries has also been active on their social media feed, providing additional information to the original Service Notice of Sunday which alerted the public to the one week shut down for service. Their most recent notes provide much the same flow of information as that of the MLA.

The cancelled sailings, along with little in the way of additional information of the early days has led to a fair bit of frustration for those that have been stranded and are awaiting more information. 

Some of those travellers may very well take up the MLA's offer to drop by her office later this morning, though it would appear from the commentary from her forum, some may want more than just a cup of coffee and a sympathetic ear.

While the MLA has been active since first making note of the situation on Tuesday, had the Ferry cancellations taken place during the NDP days of opposition, one imagines that the issue would become a high profile topic of note for discussion in the Legislature.

During the days of the Liberal government, the challenges of BC Ferry services on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii made for frequent commentaries from Ms. Rice as the then opposition MLA, that tone of discussion and advocacy has changed significantly since she and the party switched to the government side of the Legislature Chamber.

And while there have been some improvements to regional service in recent years, there are still a number of concerns from travellers and residents who rely on the service to be addressed.  

The MLA may hear a few of those today during the coffee break opportunity at the Ocean Centre Mall.

Any new updates on the potential return of service for the North Coast, Haida Gwaii, Central Coast and Port Hardy runs will be relayed through the BC Ferries Service Notices page here.

More notes on Marine Transportation on the North Coast can be explored through our archive page. 

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.