CKNW Editorial
for October 29, 1999

The question is ... what have we learned from the Fastcat Ferry fiasco you'll hear much more about from our auditor-general George Morfitt in a few moments. I can tell you something I've learned ... and I'm so slow witted I have to learn this over and over again. Never let up in your job of holding the feet of those in authority to the fire. I did let up and I'm mad as hell that I did.

I'll tell you how it happens. You hear over and over again that you're being negative. Why can't you say something positive, comes the cry not just from those in authority but from regular listeners. Why do you always criticize the government instead of giving them credit for what they're doing right. I should have known better and gone with the feeling in the pit of my tummy which is usually a pretty reliable barometer.

Bob Ward, a well known expert on these matters was on my show very early in the game and he told me that these vessels were the wrong boats for the wrong routes, that they were hard as hell to build and would have a tendency to be temperamental to run, that they were huge consumers of fuel, that they were environmentally unfriendly and that was just the beginning. I let a person working for the government convince me that Ward didn't know what he was talking about and I withdrew, basically, from the fight even though my tummy told me I shouldn't. To his everlasting credit Vaughn Palmer of the Vancouver Sun did not let up and he has been proved wrong only in the sense that bad as the picture he painted was, the reality was even worse.

During the years leading up to the launch of the Fastcats I was constantly told that this would mean the establishment of a great shipping industry in BC. Ironically this might prove to be true but it sure as hell won't be in building this model ... but there is a fair chance, I'm told, that we might be able to build other ships.

Much of the criticism vented by the media and others was on the timing ... why was it late? ... why was the launching delayed yet again ... and again ... and again.

But the key criticism which went straight to the heart of the matter was by Bob Ward. And I'm forcibly reminded - and I of all people shouldn't need reminding - of Mair's Axiom I which says "you make a very serious mistake indeed assuming that people in charge know what the hell they're doing."

From the outset it was clear - and indeed admitted by Glen Clark in the Legislature - that these were the wrong boats for the runs they would service. Never mind all the other criticisms, these vessels would not fill the need.

The temptation to blame it all on Glen Clark is great indeed. And he was the principal sinner. But what about the directors? I can remember Jack Munro telling me what a wonderful craft these Fastcats were, how great they looked and how this deal would father a secure shipbuilding industry in BC. I only single Jack out because he's the one who phoned me ... I assume that others were contacted by other directors. Those directors now complain that since they weren't the experts they can't be held accountable.

But can they and the rest of Cabinet wriggle out of responsibility that easily? The questions they had to ask, and I emphasize in timely and persistent fashion, were not technical questions at all.

Would these ferries actually move the same customers faster and more efficiently than the standard ferries? How fast could they actually go realistically speaking, especially when you consider the slow down areas in Nanaimo and again as soon as the entrance to Howe Sound was reached? What was their fuel efficiency per mile covered compared to conventional ferries?

What were the environmental concerns ... would they not, for example, throw a much bigger wash than conventional ferries? What about waste, both from the engines and from the toilets? The Fastcats being smaller than the conventional models they have lower capacity, what impact did that have on the volumes of people and vehicles to be moved?

If this is the prelude to a shipping industry building Fastcats, what is the potential market? Who now services that market and with what product? Will we be able to take away business from competitors in those traditional markets with what we produce? Can we compete both on cost and quality? If we get into the market, what will our competitors do to retain their market share?

These questions only scratch the surface of the due diligence one must do to start up a hugely expensive industry in a very tough and highly competitive market.

It's not open to the NDP to lay all the blame on Glen Clark personally even though he was playing dictator at the time and would surely have to resign as Premier after Mr Morfitt's report had not other events caught up to him.

The very least the NDP caucus and particularly the cabinet should have done is raise some of the foregoing and other easy questions publicly. Indeed the best and almost only critic in depth of the Fastcat project in the Legislature at the time was the minister now responsible, Gordon Wilson.

No ... this is a collective screw-up and the explanations must come from all candidates for leader. Mr Dosanjh, assuming he runs, and Ms McPhail especially, must tell us how and why a government got us into such a predictable mess. This is not 20/20 hindsight - all the questions I asked were asked by Vaughn Palmer and indeed myself, before I got lulled to sleep.

These are not complicated questions but very basic ones. The responsibility for not seeing them answered before the calamity began rests upon every member of the NDP government and the responsibility for half a billion dollars out of schools, hospitals and public housing must be accepted and accepted publicly and contritely by all who were in government at the time ... very much including Ms McPhail and Mr Dosanjh.