Nova Scotia’s PC leader says the McNeil government must come clean about the true economic benefits of the Yarmouth
to Portland ferry service.
Jamie Baillie says the economics just aren’t there.
Bay Ferries CEO Mark MacDonald spoke to a provincial economic development committee yesterday.
He says they want to extend the season by two weeks in October and would like to see customs pre-clearance in Yarmouth.
Baillie says that sounds like a good thing.
“The problem is we pay all the bills, the taxpayers of Nova Scotia do. We don’t know if that will actually help or not.
We’re bringing tourists here at a pretty big loss, and I think it’s only fair that we see the economic impact that the ferry is having
and whether extending the season would cost us or benefit us.
The CAT ferry carried just under 36,000 passengers last year….no where near the government’s projection of 60,000.
Baillie says the government stopped talking about the economic benefits of the ferry and changed its messaging.
He says it’s obvious the “sell job’ is clearly on.
“We get happy anecdotes about a tourist here or the operator of an inn there, which is all nice but this is $100 million of taxpayer
money and I think the people of Yarmouth deserve to know whether this is the highest or best use of that money or not. That’s why we’ve asked for an economic impact study for months and the government has said ‘no’. As long as they say no we can only suspect that we are never going to get a true story from the McNeil Liberals about whether the ferry is helping or not.”
Baillie says the Liberals signed a sucker deal with Bay Ferries.
“They got hosed by the operator. We’re now locked into a hundred million dollar contract and the government won’t even study whether
we’re getting an economic uptick for it or not. To me it shows just how incompetent this whole mess has been.
Baillie says his party supports the route but not the current contract.
He says if elected premier he would try to renegotiate a new contract with Bay Ferries, if not, he would seek out a new operator.
Bay Ferries CEO Mark MacDonald was not available for comment at the time this story was posted.
