BC Ferries Are Liars, So Is Mike Corrigan(Who Directed Mike Corrigan To Float Horseshoe bay Terminal Closure, BC Liberal Government Did)

 Written by Grant G

Nothing about BC Ferries makes sense, for years we were told that servicing minor routes was a money loser and that major routes out of Tawassen and Horseshoe bay are profitable, so why would Mike Corrigan float an outrageous idea like closing down Horseshoe bay terminal?

I can safely say that Mike Corrigan didn`t hatch this idea, this has Christy Clark`s LNG fingerprints all over it...It indeed can become quite congested around Horseshoe bay when the ferries to Langdale, Bowen Island and Nanaimo converge.....Quite often one or two of those ferries must wait for the big ferry to Nanaimo to clear out of the way...This traffic could indeed interfere with a floating LNG bomb tanker traversing from the proposed Woodfiber LNG plant...

Mike Corrigan was left hanging with his rear end exposed today....No CEO would dare make this announcement without clearing it with the transportation ministry and or the head of the BC Government, in fact it1s more likely that Mike Corrigan was directed to float this hairbrain idea...

Before we get down to exposing the BC Liberal liars and embarrassing BC Ferry brass let`s explain why the idea is ludicrous...

Sunshine coasters wanting to go to mid island would have to travel from Langdale, to Horseshoe bay, drive to Tawassen, then take a ferry back to Duke point, those wealthy west Vancouverites who love to bring their RVs to the island would have to drive across the lower mainland, and back, with a ferry terminal in their backyard...Businesses in Horseshoe bay would go belly up, it`s already a tough slog now, without that traffic, game over...Placing that much additional traffic in Twawassen would create massive gridlock....Trips from the Sunshine coast and the north shoe to the island would become much more expensive and hassle-filled, thus driving the island economy further into the dumper..

Here is what the $million dollar BC Ferry CEO David Hahn stated in BC Ferries 2005 annual report.(Check out page 8)

 http://www.bcferries.com/files/AboutBCF/AR/BCF_Annual_Report_2004-2005.pdf

."We reconfigured our Horseshoe Bay terminal and successfully alleviated traffic congestion on the upper levels highway"
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That`s right people, BC Ferries have already down a major retrofit at Horseshoe bay terminal, including kilometers of lanes, parking for ferry waiting cars goes way up the hill, BC Ferries spent $10s of millions upgrading Horseshoe bay terminal, the terminal can handle all the vessels in the fleet including the large German built Inspirations...

So who the hell does Mike Corrigan think he`s fooling?..Who..no one, he was blindsided by an LNG obsessed Government...

Shall we go on embarrassing these buffoons...

Coastal communities are already furious about the obscene rate increases and service cuts and this BC Liberal government and Government controlled quasi private ferry corporation love spinning, lying and blowing their own horn...Mike Corrigan today stated that unless the BC Government coughs up more money big rate increases are a coming, really, is that true...oh my, the humanity..Because just last August..August 4th/2014 .......BC Ferries crowed about this...

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BC Ferries is an independent company with a contract to provide ‘ferry services’ for the BC government. It should actually be called ‘Corrigan’s Company’ or something that doesn’t make it sound like it’s a government department.

This spring, Transportation Minister Todd Stone approved $19 million in cuts to BC Ferry coastal routes. Over 3,000 sailings were cancelled. At the same time, BC Ferries introduced a 4.2% increase in fares for the major routes, a 2% increase on Northern routes and reduced the passenger fare discount for BC seniors travelling Mondays to Thursdays from 100% to 50%.
How did these cuts to service and increased fares play out?

Record Profits

In August, BC Ferries announced that net earnings from April to June 2014 were $13.9-million, compared with $4.3-million in the first quarter of the previous year.

 http://midislandnews.com/bc-ferries-profits-and-problems

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 How can this be, Horseshoe bay terminal has been upgraded and right now it is under even more upgrading, kilometers of waiting areas for car travelling to the island have been created, new access road to the upper level highway, also know as The Trans Canada Highway..

And just last August BC Ferries and Mike Corrigan were crowing about all their new found profits, now all of a sudden BC Ferries is broke, desperate need of money, and we are to believe the BC Ferry braintrust has decided to slash a money making route thus reducing overall ferry traffic....oh indeed.

Christy Clark has her fingerprints all over this...After-all, this wouldn`t be the first time Christy Clark lied her face off about BC Ferries..In fact I complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and filed a formal complaint against Christy Clark for lying about BC Ferries when she was a radio voice on CKNW, she was forced to retract on air as my complaint was upheld...

Here is the whopper lie Christy Clark uttered on CKNW..It was in defense of David Hahn..


Now before we go any further...Let me take you back to November 10/2009...12:30pm to 1:00pm  Here is what Christy Clark said on radio...


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The Christy Clark show ....The transcript.....Christy Clark`s words...


Christy Clark  "How much of a difference has his leadership made at BC Ferries? It`s a company that now delivers a half a billion dollars in profit back to you and I !{sic} the taxpayers  and don`t forget, we didn`t start making this  profit until after David Hahn took over and started cleaning it up.  So how much is that worth to you? And to me, the people who pay taxes in this Province?

 Yes, we could cut David Hahn`s pay. We could save the corporation maybe a hundred, two hundred, maybe three hundred grand a year.  And then when he leaves and is replaced by somebody who`s willing to work for less, how much profit will there be left for the taxpayer to garner? 

 Would we be earning four hundred million instead of five? Three hundred million insted of five? Maybe we`d be earning the same amount. The fact is no one knows. But are you willing to take that risk? Are you willing to risk hundreds of millions in profits to save perhaps a couple of hundred thousand dollars in salary?
  The fact is that leadership really does matter. And in the case of BCFerries, it`s pretty easy to argue David Hahn`s leadership in particular has made a very, very big difference. Is he overpaid? I don`t know. I `m not really sure what the job is worth. But I do know that five hundred million dollars in profit back to you and I {sic} the taxpayer, is a pretty good deal.

What do you think...604-280-9898...*9898 on your cell".


And then I(Powell River Persuader) was the first caller up and I let Christy Clark have it........"Hi Brian"


Brian..Hi Christy, you know, I don`t know where you get your facts from, but you know BC Ferries has a $1.4 billion dollar capital debt. In the last fiscal reported quarter, April, May and june of this year, they didn`t even make enough money to cover their operating expenses and interest payments, which is fifty million dollar per year on their capital debt. Plus the Province subsidizes BC Ferries to the tune of almost two hundred million dollars a year. Where do you get this $500 million dollar profit amount from?


Clark--They, they return that to the taxpayer. It is on, you can find it in public accounts.

Brian--Yea, well, I suggest that you do a little more scanning and talk to Gary Coons, uh the, ferry critic....Because BC Ferries is in, is right now, is in a financial disaster.uh!

Clark-but they don`t have a fi, they don`t have a capital debt, though. Brian, because

Brian--Yes they do!..$1.4 billion dollars!

Clark-No, hold on, hold on, listen, listen, listen! listen. They don`t have a capital debt. though, because of David Hahn. They have a capital debt largely because we spent so much money on the fast ferries that there was no money left over to actually look after the ferries that were going to work in british Columbia. They had to build new ferries.

Brian--No, your wrong on that. Christy, because when Hahn took over, all the debt that BC Ferries had was retired by the Province. Hahn came in there was a clean slate. And this $1.4 billion dollar debt has been gathered up since Hahn has been at the-

Clark-But he, but, Brian, my point is he came in with BC Ferries that were, a fleet that was, in such a bad state of dis-repair, I mean, some of the ferries were, I think, thirty or forty years old

Brian-Christy-

Clark-They had to be upgraded

Brian-No, no no

Clark-and there was no money to do it because it had been misspent in previous years. That money for the fast ferries should have gone into upgrading the fleet over those years.

Brian--Christy, I have been riding the ferries for thirty years. The, the Langdale run, the island, there are no more sailings than there ever was {sic} The schedule`s been the same for three decades on the Sunshine coast. Uh, they sunk a ferry under Hahn...The fast ferries were a bad design and, and is at issue, but, that the fast ferries had nothing to do with  maintenance of the fleet-

Clark-YES!

Brian-Or money taken away from ferries-

Clark-Of course it did!

Brian-No it didn`t!

Clark-Of course it did, all those years-

Brian-Look at the convention center--

Clark-All of, oh, come on! Leave the convention center out of this! That`s, that`s crazy. The money that went into the fast ferries was diverted from BC Ferries budget and it shoud have gone into replacing the ancient archaic, old fleet. And it didn`t! That`s why there`s a capital debt at BC ferries. Make no doubt. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The convention center doesn`t have a whole lot to do with that Brian.


http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2010/12/christy-clark-spins-and-lies-on-her.html


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 Christy Clark is so stupid, I nailed her milfy ass to the wall, she claimed all this profit BC Ferry was making under David Hahn...A month later Christy Clark had to retract, oh, and in case you were wondering why Clark was talking about David Hahn on the radio the public just learned that his wage was $500K per year, she was ordered by her bosses to defend David Hahn, who knew that 3 later Hahn`s salary would have jumped to $1.2 million per year...Christy Clark is so stunned...

The closing of Horseshoe bay idea was ordered floated by the Clark Government, ...The Sunshine coast, West Vancouver, all the districts are dead set against having LNG floating bombs travelling through Howe Sound, especially with wind, fog, bad weather and ferries, everywhere ferries..

Don`t think Christy Clark`s terminal closure idea is dead yet, Woodfiber LNG proposal won`t be up and running(if it proceeds) until after the next election...Mike Corrigan did say that the closure of Horseshoe bay wouldn`t happen for about 5 years, hmmm, that`s` about the same timeline as the Woodfibre LNG build out!..


How does it feel to be Christy Clark`s doormat Mike Corrigan?


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