Ottawa won’t throw Digby-Saint John ferry a lifeline
SAINT JOHN — The federal government isn’t going to bail out the struggling Digby-St. John ferry service again, says federal MP Peter MacKay, minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
According to local media, MacKay said this time it’s going to take a collaborative effort to keep the ferry afloat beyond January.
The operator, Bay Ferries Ltd., threatened to end the run in 2006 because of declining traffic and high fuel costs.
At that time Ottawa and the Province of Nova Scotia handed over a combined $6 million to save the Bay of Fundy cargo ferry service, which is used mainly by seafood shippers and trucking companies.
That funding only ensures ferry service until the end of January 2009.
A group of Nova Scotia fishermen and fish processors planned to meet Friday with senior federal officials in Halifax in hopes of getting reassurance the service will continue.
Fishermen say without the ferry it would take another eight hours to truck product by road.
MacKay is not giving away any details about how the ferry service could be saved, but the various levels of government and business would have a role, he said.
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