Dear editor,
The residents of Denman Island (and Hornby) need a reality check.
The ferry service they enjoy is far beyond that justified for the number of people that live on the islands.
Granted, in the summer, tourism fills the 11 or more crossings daily, but most of the year the ferries cross virtually empty. I have driven by Buckley Bay and watched the ferry leaving with one car.
This is a ferry that requires five or six people. If Denman residents had to pay the full cost of a winter crossing, they would pay $400 instead of $21.
Denman Island residents should be thanking BC Ferries for finding a more cost-effective way to service them so their luxury service can be maintained. If we ever have a truly responsible government in Victoria, the ferry crossings to Denman would be cut to three a day in the winter.
I wonder if other B.C. taxpayers like those in say, Nelson, have sympathy for the $15-million subsidy Denman Island residents receive when B.C. residents elsewhere have their own highway issues.
Bruce Ellis,
Courtenay