The provincial government and Regional District of Central Kootenay remain at odds over the need to designate inland ferries as an essential service.
Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth wrote to the RDCK in a letter dated Jan. 23 that the government “recognizes inland ferries as critical components of B.C.’s transportation network” but said essential service levels are determined by the B.C. Labour Relations Board during work stoppages.
“This process ensures that public safety and access to critical transportation are maintained while respecting collective bargaining rights,” said Farnworth.
In a March 5 response from the RDCK, board chair Aimee Watson told Farnworth the government’s stance did not prevent “lack of access to routine and essential services as well as economic disruption” during the strike, nor did the Labour Relations Board adequately determine essential service levels.
The RDCK has been advocating for new legislation since January 2025 when the Kootenay ferry strike was underway. The work stoppage lasted five months and impacted the Kootenay Lake ferry as well as the communities of Harrop, Procter and Glade where cable ferries are the only way in and out for residents.
B.C. contracts Western Pacific Marine to manage the three ferry routes and approximately 80 employees represented by the B.C. General Employees Union. Watson wrote that operations run by a for-profit company “will never have the depth of interest in protecting the well being of residents as that held by the government.”
Watson told the Nelson Star the ministry has not yet responded to the latest correspondence.
The RDCK is not the only regional government advocating for change. At its annual convention in October, the Union of B.C. Municipalities endorsed a resolution from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District that the province’s 14 inland ferries be granted the same legal status as roads, highways and bridges, as well as guaranteed a regular operations schedule.
The RDCK also want changes made to how the Labour Relations Board determines essential service. During the strike, labour board opted to reduce Kootenay Lake sailings and limited the types of passengers who could cross at Harrop and Glade.
Watson said those decisions were not made with community consultation. She wants the labour board to set up a committee that includes public engagement to decide on what the thresholds for essential service should be before a strike happens, rather than in response to a work stoppage already underway.
“If a road gets shut down, we’re all hands on deck to get that road opened again. So the first ask is really to treat inland ferries the same way, and then it’s not up to the residents and the local government to be raising the concerns over essential services.”
The Transportation Ministry did not make Farnworth available for an interview following a request by the Nelson Star. In a statement, the ministry reiterated its support for the Labour Relations Board process.
“In labour disputes, the LRB is responsible for setting essential service levels for inland ferries, as it does for other core public services such as health care, social services, and transit.
“In doing so, the LRB independently balances setting service levels that it considers necessary or essential to prevent immediate and danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the residents of British Columbia with workers’ constitutional right to strike.”
There is little reason to believe a strike won’t happen again when the latest collective agreement ends in 2028.
Last week, Western Pacific Marine and the BCGEU were once again exchanging public criticisms over clauses in the agreement related to employee scheduling and training that have not been implemented.
The BCGEU announced April 14 it had filed an unfair labour practices complaint against the company, while the provincial mediator who helped end the strike, Vince Ready, has been asked to once again intervene.
Communities band together
A new provincial lobby group has also begun advocating for inland ferries to become essential service.
The BC Inland Ferry Coalition is made up of members from Cheslatta Carrier Nation, the Glade Ferry Society, the Harrop Procter Ferry Committee Society, Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce, Takysie Lake Store and Resort and the regional districts of Kitimat-Stikine, Thompson-Nicola, Columbia Shuswap and Central Kootenay.
The group has requested an in-person meeting with Farnworth.
Ina Pockrass is president of the Harrop Procter Ferry Committee Society that was set up during the strike to provide residents with ongoing updates as well as advocate for an end to the impasse.
Pockrass cited section 25 of the Coastal Ferry Act, which overrides the Labour Relations Code and states the delivery of ferry services by BC Ferries “is necessary for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of British Columbia.”
That language, she said, must be provided to inland ferries.
“All of us in the coalition are saying we should have the same protection.”
The Transportation Ministry, in its statement to the Nelson Star, credited labour peace on coastal ferries to collective bargaining.
“BC Ferries and the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union years ago negotiated a collective agreement, under which the union set aside their right to strike in lieu of a special arbitration process to settle matters that cannot be successfully negotiated through bargaining.
“That collective agreement, as opposed to the Coastal Ferry Act, is what prevents labour actions on coastal ferries.”
The coalition also echoes Watson’s request that residents are represented at the Labour Relations Board during strikes. Neither the company nor the union, Pockrass said, understand the needs of communities that rely on inland ferries.
“The province thinks that the private companies are in the best position to talk about impact on the community, and it’s patently false. They’re just not able to do that,” said Pockrass.
“They have the responsibility to make sure the boat goes back and forth reliably, but they don’t know what’s happening on either side of those boats and are not even members of the communities that are materially dependent on those vessels.”