Three federal ministers nix ferry funding

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Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu doesn’t think it’s a stretch for the federal government to find $2.5 million to fix the Sombra ferry border crossing.
“If the government can spend six million dollars to build an ice rink on Parliament Hill that lasts only four months, they should be able to find the money to fix the ferry,” Gladu says. “We’re giving the government every opportunity to do the right thing.”
Gladu says the issue is now with Gerald Butts in the Prime Minister’s Office. She’s taken it up through the food chain, directly contacting the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Minister of Public Safety, with all declining the funding request. It’s now before Minister of Infrastructure Amarjeet Sohi.
The causeway to the ferry was heavily damaged by massive chunks of ice. Bluewater Ferry owner Morgan Dalgety says they were caused by Canadian and American icebreakers moving ships through the St. Clair River. The Coast Guard isn’t taking any responsibility.
That’s unfortunate, says Gladu. Time is ticking and if an emergency solution is not found by Jan. 31, work on the causeway won’t begin until July. No construction can be started until after the fish spawning season.

14 Responses to “Three federal ministers nix ferry funding”

  1. Cindy

    This will affect 2 small towns that count on that ferry traffic to survive! We do not have alot of tourism focal points down river and we are 2 lose this one. Cough up the cash without further delay! This is a part of our history – save it now!

  2. Bonnie Muxlow

    i can’t believe they spent all that money on ice, but they can’t fix something that helps Canadians and the states, what a bunch of dingbats

  3. Tim Mckeegan

    Really need this government to step up and help fund the money sombra and marine city needs the ferry running or this towns will become ghost town

  4. Bob Barnes

    That so much sounds like Trudeau. He spend millions on a rink that is used only by local people in Ottawa for just 3 months, but he can’t help the local people. Maybe if the professional tour guide who is pretending to be Prime Minister and your super rich finance minister could chip in some money to help a small business survive. Maybe you could forgo one of your world wide trips. You then only need to buy a GPS so that you could find your way to the Parliament Buildings. Your federal organization caused the damage, so help fix the damage. As one of our famous Liberal PMs said, it’s only a few million dollars. What’s a few million dollars?

  5. Ted Basiak

    They weren’t concerned with fish spawning when breaking up all the ice for the freighters which caused more damage to the fish habit than building a bridge. Besides how much revenue does our government want to lose with all the cross border traffic????😠😠

  6. Holmes

    I have lived on this river all my 58 yrs.. the freighter’s and Coastguard boats “DESTROY” anytime in it’s path when this river is iced over! Shipping must be shut down in times of river freeze up! This destruction also happened 3 winters ago., many docks and properties were trashed. My father helped design the Sombra ferry with the boy’s grandfather Morgan Delgety. My heart breaks from the LACK of government help!
    Thank you Marilyn for helping us!
    Coastguard and ship lines “Are At Fault” !
    Alice Roy Holmes

  7. Patrick Leslie

    This ferry is a main artery for travel transportation especially if the Bluewater bridge was ever out of service especially when backups occur also canadian and us sides both have business and people who work and live on either side the government makes tones of money from the ferry cross (duty collected ) also since lambton generation plant closed the ice has been worse . So get off your ass and fix it if we have millions for all these foreign countries we should dam well have money to support our own Country ffs 😠

  8. Diane

    If the people start a Go Fund Me campaign and raise the necessary funds to rebuild the causeway, can we ban the government from using it????

  9. Connie Murphy

    We, the tax payers. Would deeply appreciate. Our money spend in our area. Our ferry is a very important asset. And are sick and tried of our money. Being used for all the ridiculous spending through Ontario.Fund our ferry repair. Disaster relief money it’s called. Our tax dollars….

  10. Terry Filo

    This will be such a shame to not get any funding to repair this cause way!
    Our little town of Marine City on the State side will surely feel the impact. We love our Canadian customers.

  11. Karen Ferguson

    It definitely needs to be fixed. It is a vital crossing in any event that closes the bridge in Sarnia. It is used by numerous holiday visitors and our local citizens.

  12. Ruth Spicer

    If the government can help the truck ferry in Windsor at roughly $8.6 million they should help with the Bluewater Ferry which is a lot less. How fair is that.

  13. Terri Willshire

    This is absolutely heart breaking!! If the government can spend six million dollars to build an ice rink on Parliament Hill that lasts only four months and then add 2.5 million to it to keep it open another 4 weeks why can they find the funding for the Bluewater Ferry??? This makes me sick to my stomach and really disappoints me when it come to our government!!!!

  14. Daniel McKeegan

    I find ridiculous that our government will not pay for what is essentially a roadway…that leads to a Canadian business that has been around for generations. It serves Lambton County well , bringing much needed revenue to our area. Is it because Toronto doesn’t immediately benefit from it? Is it because there is no money left in the coffers from self indulging government spending? Is it more likely that our government doesn’t really know what its actual job is with regards to management of taxes and responsible spending. The facts are clear…the St Clair is a main throughfare for shipping.It handles large volumes of ice which means ice-jams…which also means Ice-breakers. Ice breakers dont make ice disappear…they move it. The ice when jammed is all connected…move it here and it shifts to there. Try pushing someone in a crowd…did you just move that one person or was there a cascade effect? There was a Ice breaker in the area at the time and they are responsible for the damage. FIX IT.