WHEREAS the provincial government has exempted BC Ferry Services from the oversight provisions of the Ombudsman Act; AND WHEREAS the Ombudsman Act provides British Columbians an important avenue by which to register complaints of administrative unfairness by a public agency and BC Ferry Services receives substantial public funds: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province be urged to include BC Ferry Services in the oversight provisions of the Ombudsman Act to allow an avenue for impartial investigations of complaints about the administrative actions of the agency.
Ministry of Transportation Infrastructure Through the Coastal Ferry Act, the office of the British Columbia Ferry Commission was established as the independent regulator of the ferry operator BC Ferries. While the Ferry Commissioner is not an ombudsperson, his independent and impartial office may launch a probe regarding the performance, service quality, efficiency or how the productivity of BC Ferries could be improved. This could be in the form of a question of clarification formally put to BC Ferries by the Commission, possibly leading to a corrective order. Several probes have been conducted, including some which address questions from the public.