HALIFAX, NS: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the Nova Scotia government to shut down or sell off the Yarmouth ferry following a news report showing the ferry service is set to move the terminal to Bar Harbor, Maine, putting Nova Scotia taxpayers on the hook for more tax dollars.  

Reportedly, the new agreement requires significant costs of at least about $4 million, some of which must be borne by taxpayers, including substantial improvements to the Bar Harbor ferry terminal. On top of that, Nova Scotia taxpayers will be on the hook for $1 million to guarantee the lease.

“For Nova Scotia taxpayers, there’s no end in sight for these costs,” said CTF Atlantic Director Paige MacPherson. “It’s time to tear up the blank cheque for the Yarmouth ferry service.”  

This year, Nova Scotia taxpayers paid almost $1.5 million to upgrade the ferry terminal in Portland, Maine, despite the lease agreement expiring in November.

Taxpayers pay $10 million every year to the Yarmouth ferry service, and the subsidy is expected to be $10.9 million for the 2018 sailing season. Since the ferry restarted in 2015, Nova Scotia taxpayers have paid $32 million in subsidies.

Additionally, taxpayers in Nova Scotia and across Canada are paying $9.7 million for phase one of the upgrade to the ferry terminal in Yarmouth, funded jointly by municipal, provincial and federal governments.

“Three separate terminals have now all needed costly upgrades, the engine had to be fixed and ticket sales fall well below provincial targets,” said MacPherson. “This ferry is a boondoggle anchored to the legs of Nova Scotia taxpayers. They need to be cut loose.”  

In July, NS Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines said that no study had been done to gage how many people in Bar Harbor would be interested in ferrying to Nova Scotia. Hines admitted the move would cost Nova Scotia taxpayers, but didn’t know how much. He’s claimed the economic impact of the ferry is “huge,” but the government has stated that no economic impact assessment has been done.

“The government is flying blind,” said MacPherson. “They have no idea whether the ferry makes financial sense. But it’s common sense that handing tens of millions to a company for an underused ferry is a bad idea when that could be spent on hospital beds and text books.”

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