(The CAT ferry sits idle in Yarmouth as seen through a window of the Visitor Information Centre on July 4. Y95 News photo)
Nova Scotia’s Minister of Transportation remains optimistic, but unsure, when ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine might begin.
The CAT sits idle at its dock in Yarmouth because US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) still has not approved upgrades to the terminal in Bar Harbor.
When asked by reporters yesterday about that, Lloyd Hines was vague saying he couldn’t nail down a definitive time but is optimistic there will be a season this year.
Here’s that exchange.
“{Reporter} “Did you get you get a general idea, could approvals come in July ?”
{Hines} “Yes.”
{Reporter} “They told you that approvals could happen in July ?”
{Hines} “No. They didn’t tell us that, but the schedule that we’re on in terms of the construction and the things they see as imperatives, make us hopeful that we’ll be able to have some activity this season.”
In an email to our Y95 newsroom this morning, USCBP spokesperson Michael McCarthy said “all construction timelines will be determined by the ferry operator and its hired partners.”
He says “US Customs and Border Protection does not dictate the timeline but finds projects of this size and scope generally take approximately 12 to 18 months from design to completion. ”
NDP leader Gary Burill calls the government’s handling of the ferry file “a mess of great magnitude.”
“The government’s whole handling of the Yarmouth ferry continues to be apocalyptically asinine. No date by which the government expects the boat will be making a crossing.”
Burill says the McNeil Liberals, with a second majority mandate and 11 Liberal MP’s in the province, should have been able secure federal support.
He calls that a big failure.
Premier Stephen McNeil tells Acadia News they are still waiting for US approval to upgrades at the terminal building in Bar Harbour.
“The process of building the terminal is ongoing but it’s border security that’s the issue. They need to be able to feel comfortable, or willing to, move people in and out of their country.”
PC leader Tim Houston says the provincial government has totally mismanaged the ferry file from the start.
“They should have applied for the customs process over a year ago. They’re not thinking past the podium, something typical of this government.”
A delegation from Nova Scotia met recently with with Maine senators Susan Collins and Angus King, Representative Jared Golden and the chief of staff for South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
The delegation also met with the province’s new ferry lobbyist, David Wilkins, the former American ambassador to Canada.
Nova Scotia taxpayers are footing Wilkins’ $10,000 US a month bill.
