How the Island can get federal ferry subsidies

Re: “Existing ferries need support,” editorial, Sept. 12.

Existing ferries definitely need support, and I agree that there seems to be no reason B.C.’s ferries should not receive the sort of federal financial aid that ferries in Atlantic Canada receive. We are, after all, a coastal province.

Unfortunately, the Constitution Act, 1867 grants Parliament exclusive legislative authority over “ferries between a province and any British or foreign country or between two provinces” — but not within a province. In Canada, financial responsibility generally follows legislative jurisdiction, so Ottawa is responsible for the interprovincial ferries on the East Coast but not intra-provincial ferries here.

It therefore seems that, if Vancouver Island had not merged with the mainland colony in 1866, and instead had joined Canada in 1871 as a separate province — as, for example, Prince Edward Island did in 1873 — we, too, would qualify for the sort of federal ferry subsidies the East Coast enjoys.

In the classic comedy The Mouse That Roared, the fictional Duchy of Grand Fenwick declared war on the U.S. so it could quickly surrender and qualify for American foreign aid. Hmmmm. Perhaps it is time for Vancouver Island to hold a Quebec-style referendum and, assuming substantial majority support, negotiate separation from Canada unless the feds cough up for ferries.

Aux barricades, mes amis! And long live the Democratic Republic of Vancouver Island — long enough, anyway, to be readmitted as the 11th province and qualify for federal ferry subsidies. Hamar Foster Victoria