After commissioning a report on the impact of limited capacity aboard the Digby Island Ferry, representatives from the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce outlined the next steps during the Jan. 13 meeting of Port Edward council.
Given that new buses are unable to access the ferry due to issues with the dock, chamber president John Farrell said that is next on the group’s agenda.
“The next stage we’re going to do is determine the cost of either renovating the existing dock structures or fabricating new ones. That is the next piece because before we can even talk about ferries we need to talk about the docks,” he said, noting the same industry stakeholders that contributed to the ferry study will be at the table to examine the docks.
“The whole point is to cost share this exercise, so it will be hiring an engineering consultant to do a feasibility study and cost analysis. Then it is decision time. It will go back to the table and the proof will be in the pudding in terms of how much each proponent needs to spend in terms of infrastructure ... one of the things we want to do to keep this cheap is that the Prince Rupert Port Authority is using its in-house engineers to help work with the consultant to look at different scenarios.”
During the meeting, Coun. Dan Franzen expressed his desire to see a change to not only the ferry run but how the airport opens itself to vehicle traffic.
“You definitely need to go with the new docks and with Tobey Point. You have to get rid of that long run. The way I see it that ferry should run one hour from one side and keep going back and forth,” he said of the ferry run.
“We should have a big parking lot on the other side with meters just like they have in Terrace so you can take your car there and park. There it is $6 per day and it is full all the time. The cost to get over there if you want to take your car, $40, is too much. You could make that up in that parking fee.”
In addition to issues surrounding the dock and the ferry, chamber vice-president Rosa Miller said the schedule in and out of Prince Rupert needs to change.
“In preparation for tonight’s meeting I went to the Air Canada website to try and book a flight from Prince Rupert to Vancouver on Jan. 28, returning Jan. 29. I thought that was a Wednesday and Thursday, the quietest days. I also did the same for Terrace. In Terrace there are five flights departing from Terrace starting at 6:00 in the morning and the last returning at 11 p.m. From Prince Rupert there are two, the first departing at at 10:45 a.m. and returning at 7:50 p.m. If you take those numbers and run them, flying out of Terrace will double your opportunity window in terms of business you could do in Vancouver or business you could do in the north. Then in December, Air Canada came out and announced they would be offering jet service from Terrace to Calgary, in essence further encouraging residents of Prince Rupert and Port Edward to use the Terrace airport,” she told council.
“What we would like to do as chamber is sit at the table with the District of Port Edward and the City of Prince Rupert to come to some sort of solution so we could meet with executives from Air Canada to demand better service. Otherwise we will watch our airport die ... it’s one thing to work on the ferry and the dock, but if there are no flights coming in then it won’t be worth it.”
Farrell and Miller noted that the issue with adding another flight is having enough people to fill it, something that may be possible if dozens of people weren’t making their way to Terrace each day because of the schedule there.
“It’s a bit of a double-edge sword. They want to work with the chamber, they want work with the community, but we can’t increase ridership if they can’t increase the number of flights,” said Miller.
“We’re already losing probably close to a flight per day to the Terrace airport from our own people ... once we reach that capacity, will they be ready to add an additional flight?” questioned Farrell.
While saying the district would welcome the chance to participate in discussions about the future of the airport, Mayor Dave MacDonald said it was important to not specifically target Air Canada.
“I think we should talk to all of the airlines about what they can do to increase capacity for the whole area, but I would also be asking the First Nations communities for their support because they fly a lot too,” he said.