Residents of Gagetown, N.S. say they’re not taking ‘no’ for an answer after the New Brunswick government refused to reinstate the community’s ferry service.
The government announced the cut in February’s provincial budget, not long after the ferry underwent more than $100,000 in repairs, and now it sits idle.
“We were shocked when we heard that the ferry was being cut,” says Hugh Harmon, who operates a beef farm in the area.
“The very people who should have been consulted have actually been shunned by this government, and that’s what makes us the most angry.”
Government says the ferry would have had to replaced, at a cost of $5 million.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but it is only 15 kilometres from one side to the other side of the river,” says New Brunswick Finance Minister Roger Melanson.
But area resident Wilf Hiscock says the ferry is in better shape than the government is letting on and losing it will hurt the coming tourism season.
“The ferry itself is a tourist attraction,” says Hiscock. “People drive around just to do that ferry - the motorcycle clubs, the bicycle clubs, the antique car clubs, the churches, they all use that ferry because it is a pleasant thing to do.”
The distance across the river is less than a kilometer and the ferry ride was only five minutes. Now residents say getting from one side to the other is much more complicated and time-consuming.
“Without the ferry, I’m over an hour travelling,” says Harmon, who owns pasture land across the river, near the former ferry landing.
“I have to go up to the four-lane and my equipment will all have to be trucked. My hay will have to be trucked. My cattle will have to be trucked. This is a great expense.”
Gagetown residents say they are only asking for service six months of the year.
They plan to attend the New Brunswick legislature Wednesday morning to demand that ferry service be reinstated.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
