The MLA for Clare-Digby says the Progressive Conservatives have their eye on the Yarmouth ferry.
Liberal Gordon Wilson claims Jamie Baillie will punish South Western Nova Scotia by cancelling the Yarmouth to Portland ferry service.
Wilson says Baillie made the comments to a Halifax newspaper, saying if a Conservative government was elected provincially, the Yarmouth ferry would be scrapped.
“I’m certainly disappointed at the comments that we hear out of the Conservatives, on and on about our ferry service here. It upsets me that people have forgot what happened when that ferry service was pulled out from under the people of South Western Nova and the impact it had. I know sometimes we forget those things but lets keep that in mind. I know how important myself that ferry is. I’ve heard it from the business people and the tourism operators everywhere that I go.” I also understand business and you just don’t build up a ferry business overnight and every time we hear this kind of rhetoric, and it’s political from the Conservatives, all it does is send messages out there that this service is not stable and that’s not the right message.”
Wilson says he’s disappointed that Argyle-Barrington MLA Chris d’Entremont fully supports the Conservative campaign promise.
Chris d’Entremont says Wilson and the Liberals need to get their facts straight.
“I’ve never seen an MLA from a neighbouring area misrepresent what the PC Party of Nova Scotia is saying about the Nova Scotia ferry in Yarmouth.
All along we’ve been saying that the contract is in question, the ferry itself is in question and we want to make sure we have a long-term feasible ferry system to support the Yarmouth area for the long-term. We want a long-term ferry in Yarmouth. There is of course an article in the Chronicle Herald that outlines the re-negotiating of the contract and if the contract cannot be re-negotiated, we’ll find an operator who can provide us with a long-term service. ” Unfortunately I think what happens here is that people are reading headlines and not the the actual stories and I find that very difficult from an MLA from a neighbouring area.”
d’Eentremont says the Liberals are just trying to deflect criticism away from the gold-plated deal they signed with Bay Ferries.
Gordon Wilson says the subsidy for the Cat ferry link has declined year-over-year and the government expects that to continue,
especially as ridership numbers for the service increases.
