’We have no back road’: Panic in tiny Kootenay towns as B.C. ferry strike escalates

For some, the only alternative to the cable ferry routes across the narrow lake is an hours-long drive, while others fear being cut off completely

Author of the article:

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

Published Dec 30, 2024  •  Last updated 32 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Kokanee Glacier, right, is pictured shrouded by low cloud above Kootenay Lake north of Nelson, B.C., on Monday Jan. 17, 2011. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /The Canadian Press

A sense of panic is growing in tiny southeast B.C. communities over fears of being cut off from their neighbours as a ferry service labour dispute on Kootenay Lake escalates, says a local businesswoman.

The West Kootenay communities of Harrop, Procter and Glade could have their cable ferry service reduced after a B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling that permits expansion of the strike, which had already cut sailings on the major Kootenay Lake routes.

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For some residents, the only alternative to the cable ferry routes across the narrow lake is an hours-long drive, while other residents have no road alternative.

“Everybody’s panicked here,” said Melinda Foot, co-owner of the Procter General Store.

“It’s a five minute crossing that takes us over to all the rest of our communities, Nelson, Balfour,” she said Monday in an interview. “The ferry we’re talking here is our only exit. We have no back road. We have no logging road. We have nothing over here beyond this tiny little convenience store.”

Workers represented by the B.C. General Employees’ Union have been on strike since Nov. 3, seeking wage increases, scheduling adjustments and extended benefits for auxiliary workers from employer Western Pacific Marine.

The labour board approved the union’s bid to reduce service of the Harrop-Procter ferry to eight round trips daily and 16 round trips for the Glade ferry.

The Harrop ferry usually runs on a 24-hour on-demand schedule, while the Glade ferry’s regular schedule is 5 a.m. to 2:20 a.m.

“They keep telling us there will be a schedule of eight crossings but they won’t tell us what that schedule is,” Foot said. “People are in fear of losing their jobs. They’re trying to get boats to puts boats in the water and cross our water in the dark, in January.”

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About 600 people live in the Harrop-Procter area and about 300 people live in Glade, the labour board ruling said.

The decision to grant the union’s application to adjust service levels and amend an essential service order for the cable ferries serving Harrop, Procter and Glade will have an impact on residents, but still maintains protection of community health and welfare, said labour board associate chair Andres Barker in the 15-page ruling.

“The amendments … will no doubt have some effect on the residents who rely on the ferry, and that may include some economic impacts and the inconvenience of planning set departure and arrival times like a typical ferry service, despite previously being able to come and go at will,” he said.

“However, I am satisfied that, based on the evidence currently before me, the levels established are those necessary or essential to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of British Columbia.”

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