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British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is the company that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services on the West Coast of British Columbia. Set up in 1959 to provide a substantially better service then those provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by frequent spurts of job action, BC Ferries has become one of the biggest passenger ferry lines in the world, boasting a fleet of 35 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 48 locations on the B.C. coast.
In the late 1950s, a strike caused the Social Credit government of W.A.C. Bennett to decide that the coastal ferry service in B.C. needed to be owned by government, and so he set about creating BC Ferries.
BC Ferries' first route, commissioned in 1960, was between Swartz Bay , a small suburb of Sidney, and Tsawwassen, a part of the Corporation of Delta, using just two vessels. The next few years saw a dramatic growth of the B.C. ferry system, as it literally took over operations of the Black Ball Line and other major private companies providing vehicle ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. As the ferry system expanded and started to service other small coastal communities, BC Ferries had to build more vessels, many of them in the first five years of its operations, to keep up with the demand. The vast majority of the vessels in the fleet were built in B.C. waters, with only two foreign purchases and one domestic purchase. In the mid 1980s, BC Ferries took over the operations of the saltwater branch of the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways, which ran ferry services to very small coastal communities. This action dramatically increased the size of BC Ferries' fleet and its geographical service area. The distinctive 'dogwood on green' flag that BC Ferries used between 1960 and 2003 gave the service its popular nickname "the Dogwood Fleet".
In 2003, the Government of British Columbia announced that BC Ferries, which had been in debt, was going to be reorganized into a "private" company. This was established through the passing of Bill 18 - 2003, the Coastal Ferry Act. Although it was touted as no longer being a Crown corporation, therefore in theory separated from the government and the political interference that goes with it, in fact, the single voting share is held by the BC Ferry Authority , which is effectively an arm of the Government. Critics have said that the company, however reorganized, will continue to be subject to political interference, despite the Government's assurances to the contrary. More information about the political aspects of this monumental change to the company is available here.
A national controversy erupted in JulyJuly is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. July was renamed for Julius Caesar; previously, it was called Quintilis in Latin, since it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar which started in March. Because of its orig, 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co when BC Ferries announced that the company had disqualified all Canadian bids and only the proposals from European shipyardsDockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which a to build three new Super-C class ships were being considered. The contract is estimated at less than $500 million for the three ships, which are each designed to carry 370 vehicles and 1600 passengers.
The argument for domestic construction of the ferries is that it would employ numerous British Columbia workers, would revitalize the sagging B.C. shipbuilding industry, and entitle the provincial government to a large portion of the cost in the form of taxes. The advantages of employing European shipbuilders were that they had far more experience and shipyards that were more capable of constructing the ships, the cost was expected to be significantly less, and others' contract terms could be negotiated that were superior to what was likely to be available from B.C. shipbuilders.
On September 17September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). There are 105 days remaining. Events 1176 Battle of Myriokephalon 1394 King Charles VI of France orders all Jews expelled from France 1462 Battle of Swiecin, called also Battle of Zarnowiec,, 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, BC Ferries finally awarded the vessel construction contract [1] to GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east's Flensburger shipyard. The contract protects BC ferries from any delays through a fixed price and fixed schedule contract, and the performance of the ferries is guaranteed with strong contractual requirements. The three vessels are expected to be delivered in 2007 and 2008.