Hydro, ferries and stamps: Prepare to pay more as of today

Price hikes kick in today, from electricity to postage stamps and trips on B.C. Ferries

It’s no April Fools joke — the cost of everything from electrical power to riding the ferry and posting a letter will cost you more.

The good old-fashioned letter took another hit Sunday with Canada Post hiking the cost of a single stamp to $1 from 63 cents.

Buy stamps in books or coils and you’ll pay 85 cents per stamp.

This follows news that schools are looking at stopping the instruction of cursive writing, because discourse today is dominated by email, texting on smartphones and video communication.

The hike in the cost of a stamp is just one of the price hikes you’ll notice today.

It will cost more to ride B.C. Ferries.

Rates for a car and driver travelling on major routes jump to $69.50 from $66.75, while adult passengers now pay $16.25, up from $15.50.

Seniors will no longer travel free from Monday to Thursday, but will face a charge of $8.15 on major routes, or 50 per cent of the adult rate, while paying full fare for their vehicles.

An additional fuel surcharge of 3.4 per cent will apply to all fares except seniors, students and the disabled.

B.C. Hydro customers will pay nine per cent more starting today as well, although the impact may not be felt until your next bill.

The pain also could be delayed with the bulk of the cold weather behind us and electrical homeheating costs slumping through the summer.

Those most affected will be B.C. residents on fixed incomes, said Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“B.C. Hydro is one of those overhead costs — you have no real choice but to go with them,” Bateman said Monday.

“If you’re on a fixed income and you’re not receiving an increase this year, but you’re paying nine per cent more for your hydro, that means some seniors are going to go without staples that they’ve been used to,” Bateman said.

Seniors who struggle on government pensions are going to feel the rate hikes the worst, said Raymond Welch, chairman of the Victoria chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired People.

“Some people are in really great shape, but I’d say there are 30 to 40 per cent who are living hand to mouth,” Welch said.

When money gets tight, he said he tends to delay refilling his prescriptions, and he worries other seniors might put their health at risk by doing the same.

Premier Christy Clark said the hydro rates are necessary so the Crown corporation can repair and upgrade its infrastructure.

“We’ve worked really hard to try to minimize the increases, but unfortunately there are still increases that we need to make up so that we can make that investment for the future for our kids,” she said.

Clark said government is working to keep taxes down and create more jobs.

“Ultimately, that’s what we need to do is grow the economy,” she said. “That’s what’s going to make it easier for everybody to get ahead.”

The NDP accused Clark’s government of making life less affordable for ordinary British Columbians. They noted that the hydro and ferry hikes follow increases to ICBC coverage and Medical Services Plan premiums.

B.C. Ferries critic Claire Trevena said the fare hikes will hit seniors particularly hard.

“Seniors are not rich,” she said. “Just because they work on the islands, grew up on the islands and worked on the islands doesn't mean that they are wealthy. For thousands of seniors on a fixed income, it'll restricts their lives. They'll not be able to get their groceries. They'll not be able to visit family. It's going to diminish what their lives are.”

The ferry hikes were panned in a statement by the Ferry Advisory Committee chairpersons.

“Until the provincial government addresses the real problem — adequate funding to support realistic fares — all the Band-Aid fixes in the world will only delay the ultimate day of reckoning,” the committee said.

The B.C. government ignores the sustainability of the ferry-dependent coastal communities, and that real economic sustainability becomes more in danger every year, the committee said.