Newfoundland and Labrador Brings Provincial Ferry Rates in Line with Road Travel
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The Newfoundland and Labrador government announced this week that it will be scrapping a scheduled 5% provincial ferry rate increase and that it was lowering its rates to bring them in line with the cost of road travel.
The reduction is intended to ensure that people living in isolated communities around the province have an equal access to goods and services as those in communities linked by the provincial highway system.
The new rates will go into effect on April 1 and are seen by many organizations and individuals as a major step in ensuring the future of rural Newfoundland and Labrador where one of the major impediments to the economy is the cost of travel and of importing consumer goods.
Premier Williams says he hopes the federal government, which operates the Marine Atlantic Ferry Service between the island of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, will follow suit in the federal budget to be tabled on March 19.
For years the people of the province, who depend on the federally managed ferry service for travel and the import of goods from mainland Canada, have been arguing that the ferry is essentially an integral part of the Trans Canada Highway. The service was also specifically identified in the Terms of Union document when the Province became a part of Canada and as such should be accessible at a comparable cost to road travel.
The federal service is the only major link the island of Newfoundland has with mainland Canada and any increase in rates has a direct effect on the overall economy of the province. It is essential for the tourist market and any increases in rates drive up the cost of consumer goods coming into the province.
The federal government recently announced that ferry rates would be going up and that a new fuel surcharge would be added on top of fairs that already provide a much higher rate of return to Ottawa than those on most other Transport Canada ferry services around the Country.
One of the arguments put forward by some, to the demand that Ottawa reduce ferry rates, has been that the Provincial government should look at the rates they charge on their internal ferry services before demanding that Ottawa do so. With this latest announcement by the Williams government this argument is no longer valid.
During the press conference Williams said, “I think it’s timely to do it right now. It’s a week in advance of the federal budget. Even though Marine Atlantic will be a separate exercise at least the federal government is in a position to be able to address it and deal with it.â€
By Myles Higgins
@ March 27, 2007