Under leadership of CEO David Hahn and Board Chairs Elizabeth Harrison and Don Hay, in a deal negotiated before completion of construction, BC Ferries lent a real estate developer almost $25 million […]
BC Ferries still owed $25 million 2nd mortgage
Pushing back on the pushback
Reprinted from August 2013: Anonymous reader argued through earlier comments that comparisons between BC Investment Management Corporation and Washington State Investment Board are inappropriate “apples and oranges.” The person attempted to justify […]
War on coastal communities
Christy Clark’s Liberals seem dedicated to punishing residents of BC coastal communities, probably because all ferry dependent communities failed to return Liberal candidates in the last election. A few days ago, BC […]
Lies, damn lies and statistics
In late 2012, BC Ferries published a 14-page self-promotion titled Fuel Strategies. It discussed alleged savings in fuel consumption achieved by BC Ferries’ brilliant managers. A centrepiece was this chart: I added […]
Promises made, promises waived
From the 2013 platform of the B.C. Liberal Party: We need to do more to ensure coastal communities have access to a high quality ferry service that affordably meets the needs of […]
An example of coastal ferry fares, 5x inflation
One of my readers lives modestly on Texada Island and comes to the city occasionally for shopping and medical treatments and to visit family and friends. He retired on this northern Gulf […]
Without fairness for all
Successful societies are based on equitable treatment of every citizen. That is not to say that individuals must be dealt with equally, rather that fairness should always be evident. Does the equity […]
The BC Ferry crisis is a political one
http://www.gmodules.com/gadgets/ifr?url=http://prac-gadget.googlecode.com/files/google-audio-step.xml&up_MP3=https://sites.google.com/site/audiofilesnrf/home/13%201118%20NF%20with%20Terry%20Moore.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1&up_START=No&up_CCOL=%23d1dae3 First, the idea that gaming profits will help solve the transportation issue is worse than laughable. We know from experience that the beneficiaries will be BC Liberal friends, the ones that […]
On BC Ferries with Ian Jessop, CFAX1070
Between 2004 and 2013, BC population increased 10%, ferry vehicle and passenger traffic went down 12% while fares on major routes rose 60%, 3½ times the rate of inflation. Here is a […]
Bridge for sale, cheap
Province columnist Michael Smyth is technically correct about the status of the corporation, when he writes, “B.C. Ferries is a private company that acts independently of government, even though the government still […]
The Ferry Advisory Committee Chairs
Bring on the consultants – Replay
How CEOs Jack Up their Pay, Kimberly Weisul, Editor & Founder of One Thing New: “Poor, downtrodden, underpaid CEOs finally have someone they can turn to in their hour of need: compensation […]
BC’s slow ferry fiasco
Heading to Vancouver Island January 4, I noted something while checking BC Ferries schedules. Here are the vessels in service today on major routes to the island: Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo Queen […]
Wazzup, ferry riders?
A few days ago, Mary Polak’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced the “B.C. coastal ferries consultation and engagement process”. The ministry invited: Input on considerations to achieve $26 million in savings […]
Thumb in the eye of BC taxpayers
The BC Liberal policy is firmly established. Reward your important friends and give the rest—teachers, paramedics, etc.—a firm kick in the ass. Of course, agency directors and senior bureaucrats, especially ones who […]
Reinventing the wheel, timidly
British Columbia has established significant domestic production of natural gas and there are enormous reserves of recoverable gas newly discovered. Western Europe has identified major new gas fields and North America has […]
Fact free radio
Friday morning on BC Liberal radio, one of the trio assured us that BC Ferries has been cutting administration costs and its overheads had little or nothing to do with financial problems. […]
Lying like a cheap rug
One barrier to re-election of Christy Clark’s government is its lack of truthfulness and credibility. The Liberal brain trust decided long ago that veracity should always rank behind expediency. The infamous 2001 […]
No news is likely bad news
With the first quarter of British Columbia’s current fiscal year ending, public agencies and crown corporations will soon release annual reports and audited financials for the year ended March 31, 2012. A […]
Coastal discouragement
Before being elected government in 2001, BC Liberals promised to appoint an independent inquiry into the “mismanagement of BC Ferries.” That promise, like many others made by Gordon Campbell, fell by the […]
in-sights.ca 
Blair Fix at _Economics from the Top Down_ also wrote two very good papers on the converion of housing into…