MLA questions B.C. Ferries brochure spending

North Coast MLA Gary Coons, the Opposition ferries critic, is questioning why B.C. Ferries has spent an unknown sum of money on a glossy brochure that contains little in the way of new information.

“I would consider it a bit overboard,” Coons told the Straight.

B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall told the Straight that the eight-page brochure, called “Life on the Coast”, is a “customer education piece”, the first of its kind the publicly owned company has produced.

About 390,000 copies were recently distributed as an insert in a number of daily and regional newspapers, Marshall said.

Asked for the cost of it, Marshall said she didn't know, but would check. She had not returned a call with the information by the Straight's deadline.

Coons says the obvious expense of the brochure is upsetting in light of ferry fare increases. “I would think that perhaps something less expensive would suffice,” he said.

Coons added that since the B.C. Liberal government restructured the company as an independent commercial corporation in April 2003, it is no longer subject to B.C.'s freedom of information law.

“We have no access to information about how much this costs,” he said about the brochure. “There's no public accountability.”