The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the Progressive Conservative Caucus, which means the lawsuit to open the financial books on The Cat ferry will proceed.
The ruling came down just before noon today.
PC leader Tim Houston says with this decision they can now begin to deal with the real issue – how much money taxpayers pay in management fees alone.
Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill says the case undermines the public confidence and market confidence in the service as they are preparing to market for the next season.
“And we’ve seen them do this every year before we get to market, is try to undermine the service. It impacts our tourism marketing, it impacts public confidence in the vessel. I can’t get over that local Conservatives who have previously supported Bay Ferries have allowed this to happen.”
He also says the deal the Liberal government has with Bay Ferries is almost identical to the one the PC’s had when they were in power.
“The Conservatives hired Bay Ferries to run this vessel, the Conservatives had a management fee with Bat Ferries to run that vessel, the Conservatives also invested in terminal upgrades on the U.S. side of the border, so, the fact is that we are running a very similar contract.”
The PC Caucus first filed a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request surrounding The Cat back in 2016.
The lawsuit will be heard on March 26, 2020.
Reported by Sean MacLellan
