September 27, 2024
To: Commissioner Hage, info@bcferrycommission.ca
cc < Minister.MOTI@gov.bc.ca , < Engagement@bcferries.com ,
< Josie.Osbourne@leg.bc.ca >, < karen@hiceec.org >, < sborthwick@islandstrust.bc.ca >
< leciastewart@bcferryauthority.com >, < nicolas.jimenez@bcferries.com ,
< tdpinfo@bcferries.com >,
<terry.farrell@comoxvalleyrecord.com>,media@taxpayer.com
Subject: B.C. Ferries Uses Trump’s Deny, Deny, Deny Playbook to Avoid
Accountability
Dear Commissioner Hage:
Directing BC Ferries recently to strengthen its deteriorating relationship with ferry
dependent communities by making us feel respected, heard and valued is long over-
due. Denman and Hornby islanders, however, do not trust BCF’s response that they
value this feedback as BCF has dismissed our collective feedback about the unreliability
of the Baynes Sound Connector cable ferry for over eight years.
Despite expert industry criticism that a cable ferry could not do the job, ousted CEO
Collins replaced a perfectly reliable vessel with a perfectly unreliable cable ferry. Since
the beginning of the vessel’s sorry lifeline, the following list of BCF actions confirm a
pattern of denying negative feedback that is incompatible with a mandated collaborative
decision-making policy:
Ignoring Feelings and Experiences:
- Dismissing our collective anguish, anger, and despair due to depending on an unreliable
vessel every day for eight years. - Dismissing our collective fears for our school children and other vulnerable islanders
who need lodging and food when stranded overnight. - Dismissing our collective outrage when important appointments are missed or when
ailing islanders cannot get to the hospital in time for care. - Dismissing our collective economic anxiety concerning service providers doubling and
tripling transportation costs due to ferry insecurity.
Dismissing our collective anxiety and expenses when organizing lodging the night
before flights or other important commitments because we cannot trust the ferry will be on schedule the next day.
Engaging in Deceitful Practices:
- Using a survey of islanders’ positive responses to the summer tandem service to
support keeping the cable ferry in service. - Underreporting service interruptions in annual performance reports.
- Continuing to claim, without evidence, that the cable ferry has exceeded corporate expectations in saving tax dollars and providing service on a par with its predecessor.
- Engaging in questionable record-keeping of the ferry’s operating expenses that have triggered an appeal to the Auditor General to conduct an investigation.
- Gaslighting after media exposure of lengthy cancellations that the complications are resolved and that service is improving.
- Continuing to promote a mandated community engagement policy despite evidence that BCF has yet to move beyond the gathering and reporting feedback stage to reach a collaborative solution.
Engaging in Irrational Decisions:
- Failing to factor in expert industry advice when considering the cable ferry in 2013 or
create a contingency plan should the experiment fail. - Ignoring evidence of trial failures that are redacted in a full page of the shipbuilder’s
promotional literature. - Designating $l7M in the current budget cycle to stretch a vessel that remains
handicapped by unresolved mechanical issues and service unreliability.
Considering stretching the vessel despite evidence that heavier cables and a heavier
engine would reduce the vessel’s current kayaking speed even more.
The above actions are predictable symptoms of corporate hubris or arrogance when a
CEO goes out on a limb to make a promise that cannot be delivered. In studies of
corporate hubris, these actions inevitably lead to corporate failure. In order to avoid this
outcome, new CEOs are advised to right the wrongs of their predecessors by firing
executives who frequently, as in the case of BCF, appear to remain loyal to past
leadership and by returning to essential service.
A return to essential service for Denman and Hornby islanders demands
replacing an unreliable vessel with one that exceeds OUR expectations. Only
then will we feel respected, heard, and valued and begin to trust BCF. Since
islanders do not expect BCF to change course, I am appealing once again to you to
follow your mandate to balance the needs of ALL stakeholders by guiding BCF to end
an eight year long charade that creates profound suffering for islanders.
Respectfully,
Sharon Small,
Denman Island Resident