July 7/08 -- Fed-up islanders and visitors spontaneously blockaded the Galiano Island ferry ramp last Saturday after BC Ferries staffing cuts once again left stranded passengers behind as the Queen of Nanaimo prepared to depart with many open spaces still visible on the car deck.

"As a passenger, it's absolutely outrageous, and the crew are extremely frustrated because it's a cost-cutting measure by the ferry corporation to not give crew time," Kit Grauer, one of the passengers left behind, told the Province.

Grauer owns a cottage on Galiano. She says she has been turned back from boarding partially loaded ferries three times so far this summer.

Galiano passengers were also stranded on Canada Day and July 2 because the government-owned contractor, B.C. Ferry Service Corp. cut summer staffing. But these bids to squeeze extra profits from “captive” riders backfired when hundreds of paying passengers were left behind.

Chuck Garland, owner of Rocky Ridge Bed and Breakfast told the press, "It seems to happen more since the ferries cut staffing."

Brian Hollingshead, a member of a ferry advisory committee, said the passengers were stranded because of "bad judgment" by B.C. Ferries.

"That to me is almost an unforgivable thing on the islands, because you don't have a ferry two hours later. And it's just the wages for crew - there's nothing else to save in doing it."
If one more crew member had been on board, the ship could have carried 167 more people, according to crew members.

A Galiano ferry employee offered the join the Queen's staff so that everyone at the docks could board.

"This offer was rejected," reported Ross Simpson. "It's just another failure of B.C. Ferries operational management."

Around 50 passengers took over the loading ramp, shouting for an explanation and refusing to let Queen of Nanaimo leave on her 5:40 p.m. sailing - the day's last to Tsawwassen.

"The captain came down and basically said that people were going to be blackballed from going on ferries for ever and ever if they didn't get off the ramp," Grauer related.

But the angry residents and visitors refused to budge.

After the ship had been delayed for 30 minutes, reports from the ship that some B.C. Ferries employees were being threatened brought the island's lone RCMP officer to the scene. Const. Mike Taylor later said, "I relayed the captain's message that the ship was full and everyone quickly dispersed."

"He just said, 'Come on, let's get off the ramp' and everybody did," Grauer corroborated.

No charges were laid.

But many who were present at the spontaneous Galiano uprising are still wondering why American BC Ferries head David Hahn, Transport Minister Kevin Falcon and Premier Gordon Campbell have not yet been arrested for failing to provide service on hijacked public ferries.

B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said the boat was not fully staffed because only about 200 passengers usually take the late Saturday ferry.

But residents say the Galiano sailings often run out of room.

"It seems to happen more since the ferries cut staffing," said Chuck Garland, owner of Rocky Ridge Bed and Breakfast. "We tell people to book ahead, but you can't reserve for passengers."

Dave Elliot has travelled to the island dozens of times over the past 20 years. He's seen numerous passengers turned away, despite space available. "You'll see guys yelling and cursing like there was no tomorrow," Elliot said.

The Rock The Boat coalition comprising concerned ferry riders up and down the BC Coast is meeting to discuss a series of actions aimed at taking back our marine headways and heading off next month's scheduled 20% ferry fare increase.

“We are also in the process of getting legal support,” said Michelle Easterly, inviting interested lawyers to step forward.