Labour Shortage

This is the Quathiaski Cove ferry terminal on Quadra Island. It is one of our critical connections to
the rest of the world (along with the Internet). However ferry traffic has been very congested
for the last three or four years, and it is especially bad in the summer tourist season. In the
background of this photo you can see two lanes of vehicles lined up on a road. All these vehicles
are waiting to get on the ferry. This line sometimes extends for over a kilometer and sometimes
people have to wait for two sailings before they get on.

This summer our ferry was scheduled to be replaced by two more modern ferries. The ferries are
ready to go and all the necessary infrastructure has been built. But BC Ferries cannot hire enough
qualified people to run the two ferries. In fact BC Ferries, which is the largest passenger ferry
line in North America, is frequently cancelling sailings on their major lines between Vancouver
Island and the mainland because of the labour shortage. Heads have started to roll.
The president and CEO of BC Ferries was recently fired.

Best viewed at original size.