The various national and provincial holidays in Canada are both a benefit and a privation to the public and therefore, the country or province. Several of Canada's ten provinces shut down for the first Monday in August. This civic holiday is one of the busiest of the year and coming in mid-summer, brings out tourists by the bucketful. Tourism is touted in Canada and the country does reasonably well by its efforts to promote itself as a safe environment with boundless natural splendours. Most of the world's population know of Niagara Falls -the Horseshoe Falls in Ontario - the catalyst for songs and movies and a draw for honeymooners. [There are two
Falls - the rock-strewn American ones and the world-famous Canadian ones; no prize for guessing which is the attraction. Interestingly, when Americans speak of The Falls, they think more of the Canadian Falls and when pictures are shown of The Falls, the Americans use the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. (Could that be labelled as false advertising, one wonders? Sorry, I digress.)]
Some several thousand miles to the west lies the largest island on the West Coast of North and South America: Vancouver Island. At approximately 32,000 square kilometres [12,078 square miles for those still on the Imperial scale] it surpasses Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island, by a country mile. PEI covers a mere 2185 square kilometres or 5660 square miles. By way of comparison, PEI is two hundred square kilometres smaller [5860] than the West Bank, that Middle East historical land often in dispute.
On the most recent August long weekend holiday, thousands of holidaying tourists headed for Vancouver Island and Islanders sought refuge on the other side. For the majority, the Georgia Strait crossing was by BC Ferries. Three routes are available: Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen-Duke Point and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay. The first and third crossing take about one hour thirty-five minutes while the longer Mid-Island Express from Tsawwassen to Duke covers two hours. For many tourists, these short trips are about as close to a sea voyage as they have been or ever will be. Of the three routes, the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay is the most scenic. It passes through Active Pass, a narrow but deep channel between Saturna and Galiano Islands.
The ferries leave Swartz and Tsawwassen at the same time and pass at the mid-way point - Active Pass. As the Pass is narrow, the separation between passing ferries is but a mere few hundred yards, not a lengthy distance at any time but especially so in confined water such as Active Pass. Ferry passengers flock to the ships' sides to snap pictures of the passing ferry. For some, the trip through Active Pass is the highlight of the journey.
For passengers on the Horseshoe-Departure route and the Tsawwassen-Duke Point route, the trip is pretty straightforward; the ships cross Georgia Strait without benefit of island passes.
All of this is by way to setting up the difficulty that ferry travellers have to put up with on long weekends when the terminals are filled to overflowing, the weather is hot and the tempers are near the boiling point. British Columbians, who travel across Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the lower mainland, know full well the frustration of being forced to wait in long ferry line-ups and/or to be forced to wait for the next sailing. Once in the line-up, it is rather difficult to get out of it. The fare is paid and the wait begins. While vehicle-bound passengers endure most of the waiting, it is not unknown that 'walk on passengers' have to wait for the next ferry. The ships are limited to the number of passengers carried - a count is made when a ticket is purchased. As well, there is a capacity to the number of vehicles, cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, buses, and semi-trailers that seem to go on forever. Canadian Coast Guard rules restrict the numbers and the numbers determine the type and amount of lifesaving equipment carried onboard each ship; hence, the load limit.
As tempers flare and parents try to cope with small children antsy over the long wait, many of the regulars - those who use the ferry system several times each year - turn their thoughts to the long-touted fixed link between the Island and the lower mainland. Such a scheme has seen the light of day for decades but as governments are wont to do, nothing of substance has been done to effect the link. About twenty-five years ago, a wise BC cabinet minister put forward a feasible plan to connect Vancouver Island and the mainland via a tunnel under the Strait and a series of connecting bridges that skipped across some of the larger islands on the eastern side of VI.
Much gnashing of teeth and shouting of Not In My Back Yard [NIMBY] rhetoric flowed forth from Islanders who felt that such a link would impose a hardship on their quaint way of life and by residents of VI who saw the link as the first step in an invasion of lower mainlanders. Typically, the politicians backed off and the furore subsided. Yet, a fixed link would do wonders for both the Islanders who scream NIMBY and the residents of VI who fail to see the economic benefits such a fixed link would bring to their backward Island. A fixed link would not necessarily mean that the ferry system would be abandoned; there would still be tourists who want to take that short 'ocean voyage' across Georgia Strait.
Away across Canada on the East Coast, PEI was at one time serviced only by a ferry system. For years, people spoke of a fixed link but nothing came of their talk as the NIMBY proponents on PEI turned out in force. Then, when the obvious became just that to the Islanders, a fixed link was approved. In January 1988, a plebiscite was taken with fifty-nine per cent in favour with forty-one per cent opposed to a fixed link. Construction on the multi-billion dollar project began in 1994. The Confederation Bridge that connects Borden-Carlton, PEI with Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick opened on 31 May 1997. At 12.9 kilometres, it is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. The bridge is curved to keep drivers alert and to prevent accidents; the average crossing takes about ten minutes.
The frustrated BC Ferries' passengers wonder why a fixed link - tunnel and bridge system - cannot be constructed under/across Georgia Strait. The distance is much longer than the Confederation Bridge span and would cost a hefty price - a cost that is not being reduced as nothing of substance is done - but with the tunnel under the English Channel as a model and the Confederation Bridge as a guide, why not tackle the West Coast dilemma? The answer, of course, is money; or, simply the lack of it.
The proposed Vancouver Island-lower mainland fixed link might follow the PEI experience - a private undertaking with tolls to recoup investment. At the moment and depending on the time of year, an ordinary car, sedan, SUV, etc., costs in the neighbourhood of thirty dollars one way. Add ten dollars for the driver and each adult and five dollars for each child [under twelve years of age] passenger and the trip can eat up hard-earned dollars rather quickly. A reasonable toll based on the ferry fare would not be out of line. Moreover, no more ferry line-ups and a crossing that would take about thirty to forty minutes rather than the current times. For those who make the crossing several times annually, a possible discount might be offered. Enticements are a standard of private enterprise. For proof of that, just look at any of several automobile manufacturers' adds on TV or in print medium.
[There are those who make the comparison to certain European ferry systems and state that the BC system is rather inexpensive. While that might be, it discounts that some of the users of the BC ferry system travel between VI and the lower mainland dozens of times per year; they live on VI and work in the Greater Vancouver area.]
Will a fixed-link between Vancouver Island and the Greater Vancouver area become a reality anytime soon? Not probably. In the meantime, ferry line-ups will continue, tempers will flare and small children will scream. All in all, not the best way to begin a long weekend holiday.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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