Year-round ferry plea rebuffed; Williamson promises to fight on

The ferry from Campobello to Deer Island will run until Sunday, January 10, according to New Brunswick Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green. The privately owned East Coast Ferries was scheduled to end its already extended seasonal operation on December 31, but Green decided on December 8 that it should run past that date. She also says that she called the office of her federal counterpart Grant Garneau about opening discussion, with no commitments, on a year round ferry between Campobello Island and the New Brunswick mainland.
Green acknowledges that she made this call because New Brunswick Southwest MP John Williamson says there might be federal money for infrastructure costs for a ferry service. "I am certainly open to reaching out to the federal government and talking to them about what that actually means," she says.
"At this time, the province is not committing to a year round ferry. I'm just opening discussions with the federal government," Green says. "There's no date for us to have a chat, but I've reached out, so I've made the first move."
Garneau said in a written response to a petition that Williamson tabled in Parliament that the federal government no longer operates ferry services, which fall under provincial jurisdiction. Williamson believes there would be federal money for capital costs, but Justin Tinker with the Campobello Year Round Ferry Development Committee says that the province must first make a proposal to Ottawa.
Williamson says he will continue to fight for year round ferry service to Campobello despite Garneau's response that islanders have access to the mainland through Lubec, so it does not meet the test for a "remote community" or "constitutional obligation" requiring federal funding for a ferry service to the Canadian mainland.
"Unfortunately, the government's reply was merely a statement of facts: that the island has road access and ferries are a provincial responsibility," Williamson stated in Parliament. He recalled that, a year ago, during a debate on American border officers opening Canada Post mail going to Campobello, "the government appropriately opened the door to assisting with this ferry infrastructure."
"I expect that commitment to help New Brunswick stands, and that the federal government will assist the province when a plan for reliable ferry access to Campobello is finalized," he says.
Tinker, who lives in Saint John but is still involved on Campobello Island, where he grew up, says that Garneau "looked for a way to cop out" in his response to the petition, but he also has sharp words for Premier Blaine Higgs for not seeking federal infrastructure funding. He made these comments before Green announced that she approached the federal minister.
"The province has to send a proposal for MP Williamson to be able to apply any kind of pressure," Tinker says. "Then it's in Ottawa's court."
Saint Croix MLA Kathy Bockus, who supports Higgs' Progressive Conservative government, says she will continue to fight for a ferry for Campobello Island. "The people of Campobello, the residents, they have told me that they need a ferry, and I'm going to do my very best to see that they get a year round ferry. Maybe there is some federal government money that they could tap into for infrastructure. All I know is that I am going to speak to anybody and everybody until the project happens," she says.
People appreciate East Coast Ferries, but Tinker says the company uses what he calls a "summer barge" not really meant for winter crossings, putting the service at the mercy of the weather.
Green agrees that wind, especially, can disrupt the Campobello Island Deer Island run but is happy to extend the service past the original New Year's Eve cut off. "I then looked at the calendar and realized that wasn't a great day to stop it on and that it would be nice to get the islanders through the Christmas and New Year's and give them time after that, so that's why we changed the date to January 10, just being practical," she says.
A total of 711 people signed the petition that Williamson tabled in Parliament on October 6. It calls on the federal government to commit to meeting with Higgs to discuss federal funding for an adequate new or used ferry and a landing on Campobello Island and to enter a partnership with the province to subsidize the operation for five years.
"We believe that it is our charter right to have unfettered access to our own country instead of being forced to abide by the policies, procedures and jurisdiction of the United States of America, especially in a COVID 19 world," one of the "whereases" to the petition states.
The population of Campobello Island has dropped by 34%, and market income per capita by more than $6,000, in the two decades since border rules tightened after 9/11, and U.S. Customs can now open, search and seize mail from Canada on its way to Campobello Island, the petition states. The 2016 census lists the population at 872, down from 925 in 2011.
"The province needs to understand that Campobello's been dying on the end of a vine for 20 years," Tinker says. Some residents cannot enter the United States, while others cannot get warranty service, for example, on a new washing machine. Getting a plumber from the mainland requires paying someone for an entire day. Gardeners need a ferry to bring plants back from mainland nurseries without crossing the border.
The Campobello Year Round Ferry Development Committee commissioned a study recommending a year round ferry from Campobello Island to Letete near St. George ? using the same mainland terminal as the Deer Island ferries but requiring new docking facilities on Campobello. This option would avoid putting more traffic on Deer Island roads, and the private summer ferry could still run.
Tinker says that $5 million could buy a good used ferry and put it into operation with money left over for a "barebones" slip landing on Campobello. Operating the service would cost about $1.3 million a year, he says. Green said she has heard those numbers, but she is not ready to talk about actual details of a year round ferry service.