Doucet is confident Deer Island ferry service won't be cut

The MLA representing Deer Island in the New Brunswick legislative assembly is confident that a planned reduction in ferry service to the island to only one vessel for a four and one-half month period each year will not occur. "I feel very confident the reduction in service won't occur," says Rick Doucet, MLA for Charlotte-The Isles. "We can find efficiencies in the system that will have little or no impact on the schedule. There are other opportunities to save money.

Doucet says he has been working with the New Brunswick Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transportation Minister Denis Landry to identify other areas for cost-cutting in the ferry system so that the John E. Rigby won't be placed on a seasonal run. The department's budget is cutting $300,000 from the Deer Island ferry service operation. The service cost $2.5 million last year and is projected to cost $2.9 million this coming year.

The decision on whether the ferry service will be reduced will be made by the minister, and Doucet says he expects the decision will be announced by the end of the summer. The plan calls for only one ferry, the Deer Island Princess II, to run from January 1 to May 15 every year, and the number of trips would be cut to one every hour.

Concerning a May 25 memo that was sent out by DOT District Engineer Alan Kerr to DOT personnel, stating that the Deer Island operation will see a reduction in service during the winter months, Doucet says the memo is simply standard procedure and subject to change.

The MLA says he has been working closely with the West Isles Local Service District and is aware of the needs of the business community and the aquaculture, lobster and tourism industries for ferry service. "I understand the need for proper timing for them" so that products can be moved on time, he says. He adds that the planned DOT ferry schedule "doesn't fit what's needed for Deer Island." After meeting with the Local Service District and others on the island, he says suggestions for efficiencies in other areas in order to save money have been made, although he declines to specify in what areas those savings could be made.

Since the government's budget with the ferry service reduction was released in March, Deer Island residents have argued for the need for year-round service by the two ferries, the Rigby and the Princess. Along with the businesses and industries that depend on the ferry service, teachers, doctors and nurses come to the island by ferry. The high school students travel by ferry, and fire departments from the mainland come by ferry to help fight any fires on the island. The ambulance service makes about 135 trips a year on the ferry, and all of the islands goods travel over on the ferry.