The issue of a permanent year-round ferry service to Campobello Island was brought up in the House of Commons last week.
New Brunswick Southwest Conservative MP John Williamson is calling on Ottawa to fund ferry service to the island.
“A ferry is needed to end Campobello’s second-class status so its residents have a domestic route to other parts of Canada, just like every other Canadian citizen,” Williamson, who represents Campobello, said on Friday.
The Campobello ferry usually runs from June through September but has been operating continuously since 2020 due to COVID-19.
Residents are forced to travel through Maine in order to reach mainland New Brunswick when the ferry is not operating.
Williamson said he researched the public accounts and discovered Ottawa provides $30 million annually to fund ferry services to remote communities within British Columbia.
“For the past two years, Ottawa has rightly labelled Campobello a remote community,” said Williamson.
“It is past time that the federal government’s ferry support program was extended to New Brunswick so travel mobility rights on Campobello are recognized and supported by the Government of Canada. It is a matter of fairness.”
The Campobello ferry service, which is operated by East Coast Ferries, is subsidized by the New Brunswick government.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green told our newsroom in December that extending the service beyond its typical summer season costs the government around $60,000 a month.
At that time, Green said she has made a commitment to talk to the federal infrastructure and transportation ministers about a year-round ferry service for Campobello, but no talks had been scheduled at that point.
