Grand Manan votes to ditch ferry fees

Grand Manan residents have voted in favour of having the new village council ask the Alward government to live up to its election promise and remove fares on the island's ferry.

A plebiscite on the issue was held during Mondays municipal election; the only plebiscitein the province.

Of the1,169 ballots cast,556 people said council should ask the Department of Transportation to removefares on travel to and from the mainland, while 511 people said no.

Under the Referendum Act,"if more than 50 per centof the ballots validly cast in a referendum are cast for the same response to the referendum question and at least 50 per centof all qualified electors cast votes in the referendum, the result is binding on the government that initiated the referendum."

There are 1,741 eligible voters on the island. Voter turnout was 67.14 per cent.

Premier David Alward campaigned in 2010 on a promise to take the tolls off of the Grand Manan ferry, which would cost an estimated $1.7 million.

But the issue has had the 2,377 people living on the island community in the Bay of Fundy divided.

Some residents have expressed concerns a free ferry will lead to longer lineups, a change to the way of life on the island, or cuts to service.

Some businesses, such as aquaculture companies that rely on the ferry to move goods on time, worry removal of the tolls would paralyze the service, or result in more business going to the mainland.

Meanwhile, other people have said they want to see the tolls removed for people on fixed incomes, or to help create an economic boom for the village.

So the municipality added the plebiscite question to the election ballot, asking residents if they want council to pressure the provincial government to actually implement the free ferry.

Dennis Greene, who was re-elected as mayor Monday night, had predicted the plebiscite result would be close.

"It's something that we didn't need for the simple reason that it's got members of families arguing with members of families over this: One guy wants this, one guy doesn't," he had told CBC News.

During the 2010 election campaign, the Tories estimated the election promise to remove the fares from the Grand Manan ferry would cost $1.7 million.

The New Brunswick government is forecasting a $183-million deficit in 2012-13 even after announcing spending cuts, increases to some taxes and civil service reductions.

Thenew Grand Manan Adventureferry has faced many problems since it arrived in New Brunswick last summer.

It has been taken out of service several times because of problems, such as with the vessel's bow thrusters.

The provincial government invested about $68 million in the construction of the vessel, which can fit 82 cars, 20 more than the previous ferry.

Council results

Greene earned another term as mayor Monday night, with490 votes,compared to his challengerPeter Wilcox's 387 votes andPhilman Green's 274 votes.

Of thesixcouncil incumbents seeking re-election, only four were successful - Phillip Ells (771), Mark Ingersoll (674), Maurice Green (642) and Kirk Cheney (634).

The incumbents will be joined by Robert Moses (742), Jayne Turner (696), Bonnie Morse (681), Jane Cary (653), and Dennis Sesplankis (626).

Wayne Sturgeon and Stuart Green lost in their bid to return to council, earning 514 and 455 votes respectively.