The former Gagetown ferry, which connected the communities of Gagetown and Jemseg. (Facebook/Save Gagetown-Jemseg Ferry)
Residents in the Gagetown and Jemseg area remain hopeful their long-lost ferry service will soon return.
The previous Liberal government opted not to replace the ferry in 2016, which they said saved about $5 million.
The Higgs government has said it remains committed to bringing back the ferry but has not said when it will happen.
Wilf Hiscock with the Save Gagetown-Jemseg ferry committee said a recent news article indicated a ferry currently being retrofitted would be used in Gagetown.
But last week, Transportation Minister Bill Oliver told our newsroom the boat may be needed elsewhere in the river system.
“All we ask is this: treat us like the other ferry communities,” said Hiscock. “We need a ferry just as much as any of the other communities.”
Tourism Takes A Hit
This year marked the fourth consecutive tourism season the area has been without its ferry.
Hiscock said the loss of the ferry has had a significant impact on tourism in the area.
“We did some of our own unofficial economic study of the businesses. Those businesses that did respond were all down, some as much as 40 per cent,” he said.
The lack of ferry has also impacted farmers, who used the ferry to move their machinery. Now, they have to hire transport trucks to move it along the Trans-Canada Highway.
Seasonal Ferry Service
Hiscock said they would love to have a year-round ferry service again but would even be okay with a seasonal operation.
“May, after the freshet, until freeze-up, which is the first of December, it would work out,” he said. “We’d get all these big events in like Christmas in the Village, the Gagetown Fair.”
Hiscock said he would love to sit down the transportation minister and work out a solution.
“It would be a win-win situation for everyone, including all the ferry communities.”
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