BC Ferries and BC Ferry Authority to host AGM Thursday

A chance for the public to share notes on the state of service of
BC Ferries comes up on Thursday as part of the Ferry Service AGM

An opportunity to raise concerns related to BC Ferries services on the North Coast, Haida Gwaii and Central Coast comes up tomorrow as the Ferry transportation agencies of BC Columbia Ferry Services and BC Ferry Authority host their Annual General meeting on Thursday at 10 AM.

The 2022 session is both an in person and virtual event, the in person session to take place in the Vancouver Island Ballroom of the Grand Pacific Hotel in downtown Victoria.

In attendance at the event will be the Chairs of both Boards, along with the newly installed Interim President and CEO of BC Ferries Jill Sharland who will review the past year and present an outlook for the future, as well as to outline the financial performance of the company.

This years AGM comes with the Ferry Service in the spotlight after some Senior Management changes, first with the appointment of Joy MacPhail to the Board of Directors, followed by the termination of the contract of former President and CEO Mark Collins.

Those were personnel moves which political observers have noted brings the Provincial government into more of a hands on approach to how the Ferry service is being run.

The 2022 AGM finds the Ferry Service facing a number of challenges.

Travellers and those dependent on BC Ferries Service on the North Coast, Haida Gwaii and the Central Coast have seen a number of sailing cancellations through this year as the Ferry system struggled to keep crewing constant in the era of COVID.

Those crewing concerns have most impacted Haida Gwaii residents who need to transit from the Islands to Prince Rupert. The topic has been of significant concern for Island representatives who have often raised the issue of lost sailings and the concerns of residents over the state of the service.

For those looking to join the AGM virtually on Thursday, you can contact AGM organizers at agm@bcferries.com

You can submit questions in advance for the session up until Noon hour today.

There will also be a live question and answer session as part of the Thursday AGM, participants will be allowed up to use up to two minutes to make their inquiries.

You can review some of the past work of the BC Ferry Advisory committee for the North Coast here,  there is one representative from Prince Rupert on that Committee, Prince Rupert City Councillor Barry Cunningham.

A look at the most recent work of that committee from May can be reviewed here.

The Operational Performance Reports for the Northern routes can be examined below

Route Ten (Prince Rupert-Port Hardy)
Route Eleven (Prince Rupert - Skidegate)
Route Twenty Six (Skidegate-Aliford Bay)
Route Twenty Eight (Bella Coola-Port Hardy)

More notes on BC Ferries in Northern waters can be reviewed from our archive page.