Dexter rejects subsidy for Yarmouth ferry

Premier Darrell Dexter says he may consider a one-time cash infusion for the high-speed ferry service from Yarmouth, N.S., to Maine but not anongoing subsidy.

Municipal leaders from Yarmouth met with Dexter on Wednesday to try to save the high-speed ferry service.

Following a shorttalk in Halifax, Dexter told reporters his government would continue to refuse a multimillion-dollar subsidy to Bay Ferries Ltd.

However, he said he would be willing to discuss a one-time investment in any ferry service that could be shown to be viable. He didn't give a dollar amount or explain how the money could be used.

"There are circumstances where you would look at an investment that would be of a short-term nature in order to get something up and running, if we were being engaged in a manner that said this is truly an investment toward a sustainable long-term strategy," Dexter said.

The premier also said he agreed to try to fast-track a federal study on transportation needs in southwestern Nova Scotia, due out in March. He didn't commit to follow any recommendations that come out of it.

'Early Christmas present' hopes dashed

Yarmouth Mayor Phil Mooney said it wasn't the outcome he had sought from the meeting with Dexter, but he's hopeful the study will provide added backing to his community's claims that the seasonal ferry service is vital for shipping seafood to the United States.

"The best scenario I thought was I'd get an early Christmas present, because I always wanted a boat for a Christmas present," Mooney said. "But I didn't get one. So hopefully after the first of the year, after this transportation study comes, we'll have another look."

Last week, Bay Ferriesannounced that the Cat ferry service would not resume in thespring because of the province's refusal to give it more money. Local leadershave saidtheclosure of the May-to-October ferry servicewill devastate the area's tourism industry and result in the loss of hundreds of jobs.

"Our trains have gone, our buses have gone, we do not have a 100-series highway to southwest Nova, our ferries are gone," said Conservative MLA Richard Hurlburt, who represents Yarmouth. "There's not much left right now, and it's doom and gloom in Yarmouth."

Bay Ferries has provided theservice between Yarmouth and the Maine communities of Portland and Bar Harbor since 1997. The Nova Scotia government has put $18.9 million into the service since the fall of 2007.