P.E.I. premier asks Ottawa to lower bridge, ferry tolls to $20
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — P.E.I. Premier Dennis King is asking on Ottawa to scale back tolls on the Confederation Bridge and ferry service to the mainland.
King met with federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc in November and adopted up with a letter to the minister in December.
“We had a great, thorough chat about it,” King informed SaltWire Community in a phone interview on Jan. 16. “He is aware of this problem nicely and in-depth and positively understands the aggressive nature of the excessive fare and what it does to enterprise and the general public in P.E.I.’’
LeBlanc represents the New Brunswick using that connects to the bridge.
King stated he and the 4 MPs from P.E.I. have additionally been assembly recurrently on this problem. The premier stated he wish to see a committee of provincial and federal officers created to take a look at the way it might be executed.
The premier stated they’re all proposing to decrease the prices of utilizing each the bridge and the Northumberland Ferries Ltd. service, which connects P.E.I. to Nova Scotia eight months a 12 months, to $20.
King factors to Champlain Bridge in Montreal for comparability. The federal authorities subsidizes that bridge to the tune of just about $200 million yearly. That subsidy makes the three.4-kilometre crossing free.
The federal authorities pays about $90 million mixed for the Confederation Bridge and ferry.
King stated if P.E.I. obtained the identical $200-million subsidy, fares may drop to $20 per crossing.
“I feel the federal authorities is open to having a dialog about it and see how we would get there,” the premier stated.
King was fast so as to add that he wouldn’t oppose the next subsidy making the bridge and ferry free however thinks aiming for a $20 fare is extra reasonable.
“Twenty-dollars appears to be someplace the federal authorities may get to should you have a look at the premise {that a} Canadian is a Canadian and the truth that our hyperlink to the mainland is ensconced within the Structure.’’
King stated that the Champlain Bridge handles about 50 million automobiles a 12 months in comparison with lower than one million yearly on Confederation Bridge will not be an argument that one deserves a much bigger subsidy over the opposite.
“I’m not downplaying the significance of a hyperlink in Montreal (however) we’re one among solely two provinces the place it’s important to pay to get out of. That’s a aggressive drawback.’’
Do you know?
Following are the present charges for the standard automobile on the Confederation Bridge and P.E.I. ferry:
- Bridge: $50.25 (frozen for 2023)
- Ferry: $84 (2022 charge, ferry doesn’t function in winter)
King stated his assembly with LeBlanc in Ottawa in November was additionally an try to cease a deliberate hike within the bridge fare for 2023.
Confederation Bridge is allowed to extend the speed every year, based mostly on the price of inflation.
The P.E.I. premier stated Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd., which operates the bridge, was going to make use of clauses in its contract to extend fares by $4.25 on Jan. 1, 2023, because of the price of inflation and a drop in site visitors.
After assembly with King and the P.E.I. MPs, the federal authorities was capable of freeze tolls for this 12 months.
“That provides me hope that there’s a path ahead,’ King stated, referring to reducing the tolls.
P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe, who has been arguing for decrease bridge fares for years, calls freezing the fares a great first step.
“The tolls are a hindrance on our exports and the extra value of coming to P.E.I.,” Downe stated in a phone interview with SaltWire Community on Jan. 16. “All of us pay for it on the grocery retailer and in every thing else we purchase. It’s essential this be addressed.”
Downe stated he was speaking to at least one P.E.I. firm lately that reported spending $66,000 on fares simply getting off the Island final 12 months.
Downe additionally dismissed notions that King is barely doing this as a result of that is an election 12 months.
“He’s doing this as a result of he acknowledges, together with Island MPs, that it is a important hindrance to P.E.I’s exports and so forth,” the senator stated.
Dave Stewart is a reporter with SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @DveStewart
