Show me the money: South coast woman questions search for cheaper ferries

The Department of Transportation and Works is looking for a cheaper way to provide ferry services to communities on Newfoundland's south coast, but at least one ferry user questions why the service is soexpensive to begin with.

We all know that what's written on paper is not always what goes on the deck of a boat.-Elena Whyte

The department issued a request for proposals Thursday, in hopes of finding private shipping companies that could potentially offer ferry services to seven communities, with a total population of 700.

It's looking for a more cost-effective way to serviceLa Poile, Francois, Grey River, Gaultois, McCallum, Rencontre East and South East Bight.

Expensive ferries

The current ferry contracts are with Puddister Trading Companyand Norcon Marine Services.With fuel costs added in, the total cost of the ferries was $9.5 million in 2016-17.

The department's breakdown of the numbers isnot sitting well with Elena Whyte, school principal in South East Bight, Placentia Bay.

She has an accounting background, andwants to know what the $1.9 million for the MV Norcon Oceanusferry is being used for.

As the vessel uses only $100,000 annually for fuel,she can't figure out where the rest of the money is going.

"In my opinion there's a lot of that money going into profit for private enterprise, and if that's the way it's going to be, then maybe government should look at building their own boats," she told the St. John's Morning Show.

"Maybe they should look at opening some of our shipyards that are closed and employing some of our tradespeople who are out of work right now, and building our own ferries that meet the needs of these small communities."

Whytesaid crew on the NorconOceanus have been quite vocal with complaints about wages and working conditionsand insome cases have even threatened to quit.

She says she thinks thenumbersthat the department provided wereinflated and wants answers on where the cash is going.

"We all know that what's written on paper is not always what goes on the deck of a boat or the highways that we need repaired," she said.

Role of the community

With aJan. 19 deadline for proposals, Whyte said there isn't much time to have proper consultations.

She said if the provincial government is serious about saving money, itshould sit down with members of the ferry users committee and any company that is awarded a contact to go over every cent and determine if it was spent properly.

"It has to be a three-way interaction," she said.