Enlisting Saint John in fight for ferry

Municipality of Digby warden Jim Thurber and Mike Gushue, managing director of the Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency, took their campaign to Saint John for meetings with officials there including the mayor and area MP.

Thurber heads a regional coalition in Nova Scotia of area municipalities and industries that is pressing Ottawa and the governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to help maintain the ferry service.

Bay Ferries operates the service under an assistance package that expires next January 31. “There is interest in Saint John in the ferry issue,” agrees Thurber, but he doesn’t see it as strong as it is here where industry and business rely heavily on the link.

He said the issue is somewhat overlooked because the Saint John area is beginning to boom, with major projects like a new Irving refinery, construction of a natural gas pipeline and talk of new nuclear facility at Point Lepreau.

The giant projects are expected to generate so much growth they’ll need an extra 4,000 workers in the region, said Thurber.

With that kind of expansion, the warden worries New Brunswick might not reckon the 75-80 direct jobs provided there by the ferry will convince the provincial government there to invest in the Bay of Fundy service.

However, ADEDA’s Gushue says he came away from the New Brunswick meetings convinced that there was genuine interest and understanding of the issue from Enterprise Saint John, the city’s board of trade and Mayor Norm McFarlane. “We left there feeling pumped,” he said. “I believe people are taking the threat to the ferry service seriously.”

Thurber and Gushue also met with the board of trade’s transportation committee figuring on speaking for perhaps five minutes and spoke instead for an hour. “They asked good questions, challenging on some issues.”

Gushue added he is returning to Saint John this week to explore possibilities in the boom of work that could be manufactured in this area of Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia has been seeking business in Calgary, saying cheaper labour here can produce goods and ship them there more cheaply than they can be made in Alberta. “Wouldn’t there be some opportunity across the Bay? And if that happens then the ferry becomes even more a vital link,” Gushue said.