Nova Scotia government tells Transport Canada to leave Digby ferry alone

The Nova Scotia government has a clear message for Transport Canada about the Digby ferry.

“Leave this alone,” Public Works Minister Kim Masland said Thursday when asked about her message to Ottawa about the ferry.

“I’ve asked for an emergency meeting with him (Transport Canada Minister Pablo Rodriguez) the first week of December,” Masland said. “I have not heard back yet but I’m hoping that I will be able to go Ottawa and have a one-on-one meeting and to be able to communicate very loud and clearly in person to leave this service alone.

“It is needed for our commercial industry, our seafood industry in the southwestern part of the province, and it is also vital to our tourism industry, for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.”

Masland said she only found out about four weeks from the local business community that the federal government was considering the possibility of taking the Digby to Saint John, N.B., ferry out of service and moving it to a different location.

The proposed move would take the the MV Fundy Rose from its regular route to service the route between Souris, P.E.I., and Iles-de-la-Madeleine when the MV Madeleine II goes into mandatory drydock next year.

Aside from airplane travel, the ferry is the only other link to Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

The Fundy Rose is also booked for a retrofit next year that could put it out of service temporarily anyway.

Concerns

“I certainly have concerns,” Masland told reporters after a Thursday cabinet meeting in Halifax.

“It was really disappointing,” the minister said of the idea and how it came to her attention.

“I had staff reach out to Transport Canada immediately and I have written a letter.”

The minister said the service is “absolutely crucial” to Digby and southwestern Nova Scotia area.

“I’ve also been talking to my (counterpart) in New Brunswick, Minister (Richard) Ames and he shares the same concerns as I do,” Masland said. “A letter will be going under both our signatures to the minister saying leave this service be.”

Brian Reynolds, owner of B Reynolds Trucking in Port LaTour, Shelburne County, said in an interview more than a week ago that his company uses the ferry daily, estimating that it makes 500 tractor-trailer trips a year to transport seafood, including lobster, to the New England market.

Saves hours of driving

Without the ferry, truckers have to drive through mainland Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to New England, trips that are subject to mandatory rest stops.

“If you went by road by the time you get to Bangor (Maine) you’ve got to stop. By ferry we can just get by, we can make it to Boston,” Reynolds said.

The ferry saves seven hours of driving time, he said.

“We need it year-round.”

In her Nov. 21 letter, Masland told the federal minister that the proposed move “has raised significant concerns among the communities and businesses that rely on the service, including the billion-dollar fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia.”

Masland told her federal counterpart, Rodriquez, that she looks forward to having a discussion in early December.

6,000 commercial trucks

Masland referenced a statistic garnered recently from an Atlantic trucking association that stated 6,000 commercial trucks use the ferry daily to export seafood products.

“I don’t know what the actual numbers would be for tourism but how many times are you out and about in your community and you hear from people who are visiting and they took the Digby ferry across,” Masland said.

“This is a traditional service that has been there, it’s a service that the seafood industry depends on and it needs to be left alone.”

The Fundy Rose is owned by Transport Canada and leased to Bay Ferries Ltd. It is operated under an interprovincial agreement between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the federal government.

In 2021, the federal government announced the renewal of the Ferry Services Contribution Program for five years until March 31, 2027. The program supports ferry service in eastern Canada between Digby and Saint John, operated by Bay Ferries Ltd (BFL); Wood Islands, P.E.I. and Caribou, N.S., operated by Northumberland Ferries Ltd (NFL); and Iles-de-la-Madeleine and Souris, P.E.I., operated by CMTA.

In the past, when the Digby ferry service was interrupted for various reasons, there was “no replacement boat,” Reynolds said.

With files from Kathy Johnson