Lack of staff leads to more BC Ferries cancellations
Lack of staff leads to more BC Ferries cancellations
The Coastal Celebration vessel is pictured. (BC Ferries)
BC Ferries cancelled several sailings because of a lack of crew Saturday, including two trips between Greater Victoria and the Lower Mainland.
The provincial ferry operator announced the cancellations late Friday afternoon. The cancelled sailings included Saturday's 8 a.m. departure from the Swartz Bay terminal on Vancouver Island and the return trip departing Tsawwassen terminal on the mainland at 10 a.m.
Also cancelled were several morning sailings between Swartz Bay and the Southern Gulf Islands aboard the Salish Raven.
As a result of those cancellations, the Salish Heron operated a modified schedule Saturday, details of which can be found on the BC Ferries website.
The company advised travellers between the Island and the Lower Mainland to consider the Duke Point–Tsawwassen route as an alternative, and said its customer service team would contact customers with bookings on the cancelled Swartz Bay–Tsawwassen sailings to let them know if there is space available on an alternate sailing or if their booking must be cancelled.
"In the case of a cancellation, we will refund fees and/or fares," BC Ferries said.
The ferry operator saw almost 700 sailing cancellations between April and November of last year because of staff shortages, and a recent report to the independent regulator that oversees BC Ferries operations highlighted worker retention as a key problem.
Last month, the provincial government announced it was providing $500 million to BC Ferries to prevent fare hikes in excess of 10 per cent per year, which would have been required to keep up with rising costs.
At the time, Dan Kimmerly, president of the Ships Officers' Component with the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union, expressed a hope that the funding would be "put into the development of employees" to improve BC Ferries competitiveness as a workplace and attract new staff.
"We require a specific number of crew members on board the vessel to ensure the safety of our passengers in the unlikely event of an emergency and to comply with Transport Canada regulations," the company said in its cancellation announcements Friday.
"We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience you may experience as a result of these cancellations."
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
What happens to the brain when you take gravity away? According to a new study looking at astronauts both before and after space travel, that experience causes physical changes that researchers believe requires at least three years between longer missions to recover from.
As wildfires rage across Canada in what’s being called an unprecedented season, one expert says there’s more that individuals and communities can do to adapt and prevent forest fires from causing widespread devastation.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
With more festivals happening in Metro Vancouver this weekend than there are days to enjoy them, here’s a list to help you plan a packed two days of fun.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
Premier Danielle Smith says the government is bringing in arson investigators from outside the province to trace the cause of some wildfires during an unprecedented season in Alberta.
Video has surfaced showing a Mississauga, Ont. transit bus plowing into stopped traffic in a crash that left one person dead and at least eight injured on Thursday morning.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
Quebec's precarious wildfire situation is expected to remain stable over the next 48 hours but residents displaced by the raging forest fires likely won't be able to return home until early next week, Premier Francois Legault said Thursday.
An Ontario man charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of the late Montreal Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, was arrested the day after the killing in Ontario on unrelated drug charges, public records show.
Former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, who spent his life in politics, collapsed and suffered a stroke on April 11, and even as he's slowly recovering, the fighter's instinct, that he's known for, is very much alive.
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won't be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
An 18-year-old woman riding a bike was taken to an out-of-region hospital with what police call “possible serious injuries” after a crash involving a sedan in Kitchener.
Waterloo region and Wellington County remain under a special air quality statement for the fourth straight day Thursday with pollution levels expected to worsen into the evening before potential rainfall and shifting winds could bring some reprieve.
Regina's mayor says the city's fire department had growing concerns about the health, safety and well-being of those living in a homeless camp that was dismantled on Wednesday morning.
The grief-stricken parents of a young teen killed in his driveway in Barrie in 2021 delivered haunting victim impact statements in court Thursday, recalling the day their "world was destroyed."
A long stretch without rain combined with high temperatures and dry ground conditions has many municipalities across Simcoe County with an extreme fire danger rating and burn ban.
The shifting winds late Thursday morning are predicted to push high levels of air pollution over the City of Barrie and surrounding areas from smoke emanating from wildfires in Quebec and northeastern Ontario.
A man who killed his ex-wife’s cousin will spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a judge decided on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
A $100 million class action lawsuit launched on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Manitoulin Island has been abandoned after the victims reached individual settlements with the church.
The Coastal Celebration vessel is pictured. (BC Ferries)
