Ferry Challenges
Challenges in everyday life are felt by people wherever they choose to live in our world. Living on an island such as long Island presents its own set of challenges. Even though Long Island is just 1700 feet across Long Tickle to Pilley's Island, a five-minute ride, residents have to rely on a ferry service provided by the Provincial Government to get to medical appointments, hospitals, banks, stores, etc. On Wednesday, July 25, Mr. Pearce Burton of Beaumont, Long Island became seriously ill and an ambulance was called. Luckily, the ferry Hazel McIsaac was in the Tickle at the time and Mr. Burton was dispatched to hospital at Springdale very quickly. Mr. Burton's wife, Louise, feels very strongly that if the ferry had been at Shoal Arm when the ambulance was called her husband would not have made it to hospital in time. Louise feels so strongly about this situation of having her ferry on the inefficient four-point schedule trying to service two islands, Long Island and little Bay Islands, that she was compelled to call me as Long Island's correspondent to The Norwester to make this public statement. Past and present governments have allowed the provincial ferries to decline, have taken away the dedicated ferry service to Long Island and have replaced it with one ferry for those two islands. Although Little Bay Islands have seen an improvement in ferry service on this shared ferry, Long Island has had a marked decrease in service. Mrs. Burton stated that if we are forced to share a ferry, the least government can do is to run the ferry on the more efficient three-point schedule from Little Bay Islands to Pilley's Island to Long Island. It could very well be a matter of life and death.
Challenges in everyday life are felt by people wherever they choose to live in our world. Living on an island such as long Island presents its own set of challenges. Even though Long Island is just 1700 feet across Long Tickle to Pilley's Island, a five-minute ride, residents have to rely on a ferry service provided by the Provincial Government to get to medical appointments, hospitals, banks, stores, etc. On Wednesday, July 25, Mr. Pearce Burton of Beaumont, Long Island became seriously ill and an ambulance was called. Luckily, the ferry Hazel McIsaac was in the Tickle at the time and Mr. Burton was dispatched to hospital at Springdale very quickly. Mr. Burton's wife, Louise, feels very strongly that if the ferry had been at Shoal Arm when the ambulance was called her husband would not have made it to hospital in time. Louise feels so strongly about this situation of having her ferry on the inefficient four-point schedule trying to service two islands, Long Island and little Bay Islands, that she was compelled to call me as Long Island's correspondent to The Norwester to make this public statement. Past and present governments have allowed the provincial ferries to decline, have taken away the dedicated ferry service to Long Island and have replaced it with one ferry for those two islands. Although Little Bay Islands have seen an improvement in ferry service on this shared ferry, Long Island has had a marked decrease in service. Mrs. Burton stated that if we are forced to share a ferry, the least government can do is to run the ferry on the more efficient three-point schedule from Little Bay Islands to Pilley's Island to Long Island. It could very well be a matter of life and death.
