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Bella Coola residents, businesses won’t give up fight

Changing ferry service could bankrupt tourism operators, businesses and job
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MV Nimpkish carries up to 16 vehicles and is slated to sail from Bella Bella to Bella Coola in about 9.5 hours

When Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone made his Feb. 5 announcement that BC Ferries was going to cancel the Route 40 direct sailings between Port Hardy and Bella Coola, the rookie B.C. Liberal MLA and cabinet minister likely didn’t know he was walking into a fight.

Within hours, outrage at the Route 40 cancellation was voiced by tourism operators, spinoff businesses and communities along the circle tour connecting the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island to Bella Coola and through the Chilcotin to Williams Lake on Highway 97.

From there, some tourists would travel to the South Cariboo to enjoy amenities, including those in 100 Mile House.

While the cost savings of cancelling Route 40 was estimated at $1.45 million over three years, the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association stated Stone was showing “blatant disregard” for the B.C. Liberal’s previously signed Small Business Accord.

A tourism economic review noted the cut would cost 110 regional full-year equivalent jobs; a $5.6 million loss in tourism revenue; and $778,400 reduction in provincial tax revenue.

On Feb 8, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett said she was disappointed in the decision. She added “all we asked for was to prolong the Route 40 sailing for 2014” because a lot of businesses, accommodations and tourism operators had already heavily marketed the circle tour – both in North America and abroad.

Barnett explained Stone had made up his mind and it “appears to be a done deal.”

However, she noted the people along the Bella Coola to Williams Lake connector will never give up on the fight to protect their livelihoods.

Then, the West Chilcotin Tourism Association, headed by Petrus Rykes, and the Bella Coola Valley Tourism, headed by Leonard Ellis, launched the Save the Discovery Coast Ferry campaign and its website at www.savethediscoverycoastferry.ca to show the economic value of saving the direct sailing between Port Hardy and Bella Coola on Feb. 13.

It was also noted the government was turning its back on the signing of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements, in which forestry would no longer be the economic driver for the area. Instead all efforts would be turned to tourism as its replacement.

It was then learned government would be replacing the 125-car Queen of Chilliwack ferry with the 16-car Nimpkish to get tourists to Bella Coola.

Immediately, the opponents of the ferry changes noted the move would kill tourism along the Discovery Coast, especially for the Bella Coola to Highway 97 connection.

The Queen of Chilliwack provided a 12-hour direct sailing between Port Hardy and Bella Coola and carried more than 2,000 vehicles and 7,000 passengers during the summer of 2013. It is equipped with a snack bar, lounge, showers and other amenities.

In contrast, the MV Nimpkish is the smallest in BC Ferries fleet and cannot make the direct sailing from Bella Coola to Port Hardy. Opponents of the changes are concerned about the ability of the ship to handle rougher water.

The plan is to have the Nimpkish drop passengers off at Bella, where there are no facilities since the store burned down last year, and they will have to wait for an Inside Passage ferry from Prince Rupert to pick them up. It will result in a much longer trip for the tourists.

Furthermore, the Nimpkish, which opponents call an “open air barge,” has no amenities and passengers will be forced to spend the nine-trip confined to their vehicles. They add it's not likely something their European guest will enjoy.

Opponents said the Nimpkish won't be able to handle the number of passengers the Chilliwack sailed with last year.

They also point out the Chilliwack underwent a $16-billion refurbishing between 2010 and 2013 to extend its service to 2017, and by mothballing it four years early, BC Ferries is throwing away the investment, killing tourism and disrupting the lives and livelihoods of folks along the B.C. coast.

However, BC Ferries has since decided to upgrade the Nimpkish to provide food, water, washrooms, seating and shelter for passengers on the summer run from Bella Bella to Bella Coola in an effort to retain traffic on the Discovery Coast circle tour.

Read the April 30 edition of the Free Press to learn how the changes will hurt tourism in the Bella Coola Valley through the Chilcotin and into the Cariboo, and how the battle to save as tourism rages on.