Top Stories of 2021: Deal struck to establish passenger-only ferry between Nanaimo and Vancouver

Amin said while all of the necessary contracts to operate the privately funded service were signed, final procedural requirements were being addressed.

He said Conqora Capital Investments investigated the service for a few years, and became attracted to the venture not only from a long-term financial perspective, but to also fill a vital public need.

“It’s kind of an extension of the mass transit system in B.C. In fact it’s what really attracted us to it, it’s infrastructure for the public good.”

Amin said details about the operation would be announced in the near future.

NanaimoNewsNOW reached out to the company on Monday, Dec. 20 for an update on the planned service and has yet to receive a response.

Conqora has over 20 years of experience designing, building, and maintaining large complex infrastructure across North America, including transportation initiatives like this, said Amin.

The last time a passenger-only ferry operated between the downtowns of Nanaimo and Vancouver was in 2006, and was short-lived.

Since then, there has been a number of attempts to provide the service.

The City of Nanaimo signed a lease agreement with Island Ferry Services (IFS) in June of 2014, which was expected to lead to lauching the much anticipated service.

However, after a few years of back-and-forth with the City, the deal fell through and IFS was unable to advance the project due to a lack of finances.

Here’s a brief timeline of that exchange:

August 2016 – Accounting firm Ernst and Young and marine consultants Gordon Houston Associated was hired to complete an extensive review of the three companies who responded to the EOI and expressed interest in running the ferry service.

January 2017 – Island Ferry Services (IFSL) Ltd. is chosen as the best available operator of the service, 14 months after IFS told Nanaimo council they were ready to establish the service.

May 2017 – Negotiations between IFSL and the Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA) proceed slowly. Environmental assessments and consultations with local First Nations still also need to be completed.

August 2017 – IFSL and the NPA issue a statement saying they have agreed to key terms and conditions that will make up the framework of an eventual agreement. The Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) says they are ready and willing to participate in the project, as long as it answers environmental, economic, and treaty issues.

June 2019 – An unexpected loss of funding forces IFSL to try to find additional funding elsewhere.

After that things were quiet for a few years, but it was Conservative leader Erin O’Toole who breathed political hot air on the lingering fast ferry issue by promising to provide federal funding to the fast ferry if he became Prime Minister.

O’Toole made the comments during a campaign stop in Nanaimo on Sept. 4, 2021.

While O’Toole failed to form government following the federal election, it was shortly after he made those comments that the deal between Conqora, NPA, and the SFN was announced on Sept. 16, 2021, just four days before the federal election.

Hopefully, years of patience and pledges pay off to establish the fast ferry service as early as spring of 2022.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Top Stories of 2021: Deal struck to establish passenger-only ferry between Nanaimo and Vancouver

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