The timing is right to lobby Ottawa to help pay for a new ferry terminal at the Belleville Street docks, says Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps.
“New government, new interest in infrastructure, international ferry terminal. It adds up to good,” she said Friday.
Helps is part of a 13-member delegation leaving for Ottawa on Sunday. The group is aiming to persaude the federal government to chip in millions on a new terminal to replace the hodge-podge of facilities on the south side of Victoria Harbour.
Group members maintain that Victoria needs to show a better face at a key border crossing.
“It’s an international ferry terminal. It’s the westernmost gateway to Canada,” Helps said.
“It’s the first time, in some cases, that people set foot on Canadian soil, and we’d like to show that perhaps ATCO trailers aren’t the best way for the federal government to leave a border crossing.”
The proposed terminal would house ferry companies Black Ball and Clipper Navigation, and U.S. and Canadian border officials, and would make the arrival and departure process more efficient for everyone, they say.
“We don’t have what we need to make sure the customer experience is first class,” said Ryan Burles, CEO of Black Ball.
A faster, smoother process would give travellers a better experience and help make Victoria stand out in the competitive global tourism industry, say advocates for a new entrance.
A new terminal would eliminate the need for portable trailers now sitting on the Inner Harbour site.
It would also keep people dry. At times, travellers are forced to stand outdoors in the rain.
Tourism is a major part of the Greater Victoria economy, and it’s growing, said Tourism Victoria CEO Paul Nursey. Having a new, improved Belleville terminal would help to solidify that growth, he said.
The Belleville docks, on the south side of the harbour, are part of Victoria’s history.
Canadian Pacific vessels used the site for much of the 20th century as they made regular trips between Victoria and Vancouver and elsewhere. In 1959, the MV Coho relocated within the harbour to the Belleville docks.
The proposed terminal is the third and final stage in a long-dreamed-of renewal for the provincially owned Belleville site.
Work is underway on the first phase, costing $17.4 million, which includes rebuilding old docks and replacing car ramps.
Most of the $3 million needed has been raised for the second phase, focusing on improved access to the site.
“We’ve been working hard to put 20 million bucks into the project here locally — between the province, the city and the private sector — and we are going to showcase this opportunity to Ottawa,” Helps said.
The delegation includes Helps, Coun. Margaret Lucas and city manager Jason Johnson. Their total municipally funded travel cost is $8,100.
Other participants come from the province, Tourism Victoria, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, Black Ball and Clipper Navigation.
The group has meetings set with officials at Transport Canada, Infrastructure and Communities, Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and the Canada Border Agency.
It’s not yet known if any federal ministers will be on hand, Helps said.
“But we do have lots of senior folks in many of the ministries joining us.”
The estimate for the federal support being sought is between $20 million and $24 million, Helps said.
The aim is to get money in the 2017 federal budget, Helps said, adding that obtaining funding in 2016 would be very ambitious.
“But we are an ambitious bunch.”
