Governments invest $15.1 million in Digby ferry service

It’s not a long-term guarantee but it will ease concerns for the immediate future.

The Digby-Saint John ferry service, on which the fishing community relies heavily, will continue to operate until Jan. 31, 2011 after receiving funding of $15.1 million from the governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada.

The two-year extension will allow for more time to investigate a possible long-term solution and to look at the transportation requirements for the entire southwest Nova Scotia region.

Broken down, the federal government is investing $11.1 million in the service, with the governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick contributing $2 million each. "We recognize the importance of the ferry to the economy. We have listened to community and business leaders who rely on these important assets and delivered results for them and the people of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick," said ACOA minister Peter MacKay.

MacKay said the extension will be used to assess commercial transportation alternatives and economic strategies, should the ferry service be discontinued in the future. ACOA, working with its provincial government partners, will invest up to $1 million for this assessment.

The Digby-Saint John ferry service received $8 million in provincial and federal government funding in 2006 after Bay Ferries, operators of the service, said it couldn’t keep the service running. But that funding was due to run out in January, leaving much uncertainty over the future of the service.

That was causing anxiety for the fishing industries in southwestern Nova Scotia who depend on the ferry to get their product to markets elsewhere, particularly the United States.

With the high cost of fuel, not to mention the time factor, many companies had been concerned with the notion of having to drive the entire way.

A study released last fall by a coalition of municipalities and industries said a loss of the ferry service could cost southwestern Nova Scotia up to $40 million annually. A demise of the service, the study said, would jeopardize existing tourism and fishing businesses and likely prevent the development of many new businesses.