Gary Coons

VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals are trying to sneak through a 29 per cent electricity rate hike, demanding B.C. Hydro deliver an extra $254 million to government in the next year alone, says MLA Gary Coons. Read more »

VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals are undermining the coastal ferries system by hiking fares before acting on the independent review of B.C. Ferries, say the New Democrats.

“While British Columbians continue to wait for the B.C. Liberals to live up to their promise of acting on the independent review, residents up and down the coast are going to get hit again and again with steep ferry fare increases,” said New Democrat ferries critic Gary Coons. Read more »

There is more bad news for the Island economy in the latest ruling on B.C. Ferries fare increases. Fares on the main routes will rise by up to 2.7 per per cent on April 1. The other routes, including the northern service, will increase an average 5.7 per cent. Read more »

With fare rates on B.C. Ferries expected to rise on April 1, NDP ferries critic Gary Coons says the Liberal government is taking too long to react to recommendations on how to improve the service’s transparency and accountability. Read more »

Ferry passengers will pay more to ride on April 1 — a fare increase expected to generate $21 million for the mothership B.C. Ferries corporation.

Ferry commissioner Martin Crilly approved an increase in price caps for both major and minor B.C. Ferries routes on Friday. Read more »

VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals are failing to act on an independent review of B.C. Ferries even as ferry fares are set to climb higher on April 1, say the New Democrats.

“Cities, towns and First Nations communities up and down the coast have been devastated by skyrocketing fares since the B.C. Liberals privatized our ferries in 2003,” said New Democrat ferries critic Gary Coons. “Meanwhile, fares are set to climb even higher and the B.C. Liberals have done nothing since the province’s comptroller released an audit of the semi-private corporation last fall.” Read more »

Ferry fares will likely rise again April 1 after ferry commissioner Martin Crilly today approved price cap increases on all 25 of British Columbia Ferry Services Inc.’s regulated routes.

The commissioner approved a 2.68 percent increase on the three major routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and a 5.68 percent jump on all other routes. Read more »

VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals are marking the memorial for missing and murdered aboriginal women by refusing to convene a public inquiry into these disappearances and deaths, say the New Democrats.

“Despite forty years of aboriginal women going missing or being found murdered along provincial highways, B.C. Liberal Minister George Abbott still insists it is not the time for an inquiry,” said Bob Simpson, New Democrat critic for Aboriginal Relations. Read more »

G. Coons: It’s an honour to rise in response to the Speech from the Throne. I want to begin by acknowledging that tomorrow will be one of the biggest events in B.C. history, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, or those cool sporting events that take place in B.C. between 2009 and 2011. I want to offer my best to all of the international athletes, the media and the guest spectators, and give some advice to those visiting athletes that they better keep close to the red and white because they aren’t going to be getting any closer.

I want to acknowledge all the help, the support, the enthusiasm, the energy and the support of all the volunteers that are participating. Throughout the chamber we’ve heard the excitement and the thrill of the relay torch going through communities. Read more »

British Columbia Transportation Minister Shirley Bond said British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. needs to consult more with the public before she’ll approve a controversial plan to run ferries from Tsawwassen to Prince Rupert.

“There’s been no final decisions made about that,” said Bond. “What I want to make sure is that communities have adequate opportunities to be consulted about that and there’s obviously been some expression of concern in the Prince Rupert area in particular and along the northern corridor.” Read more »