VICTORIA — Independent Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington is calling on the provincial government to take control of BC Ferries.
Huntington says she is supporting a citizen who collected more than 21,000 signatures on a petition calling for BC Ferries to be treated and funded as a provincial highway.
She says the petition says quasi-private corporation is vital to coastal British Columbia as a marine highway.
It also urges the government to shift the corporation into the transportation ministry to help reduce costs and fares.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone says he respects the concerns of the people who signed the petition, but he's not about to steer BC Ferries back to government.
BC Ferries was part of the government highway system decades ago before becoming a Crown corporation, but shortly after the Liberals were elected in 2001 it was transformed into a private company that received a taxpayer subsidy.
