Yarmouth fighting to save Cat ferry

The Town of Yarmouth is hoping its local member of Parliament will be able to help save the high-speed ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine.

Yarmouth Mayor Phil Mooney said Tuesday that a recent conversation he had with West Nova Conservative MP Greg Kerr has given him some reason to hope.

"He was just informing me today that he's been talking to people in the federal bureaucracy, plus people in [Defence Minister] Peter MacKay's office, about the need of a ferry system between Yarmouth and New England," Mooney said.

"He [Kerr] said he should have some more news at the first of the year."

Mooney said he expects to get an update on Jan. 6, the same day the town is scheduled to announce upgrades to its waterfront. 

Bay Ferries Ltd. announced Dec. 18 that it's ending the ferry service because it didn't get extra funding from the provincial government for the 2010 season.

The company wanted at least $6 million to continue the Cat ferry service between Yarmouth and Bar Harbor and Portland.

So far, the province has refused to put additional money into the service that began in 1997. Over the past two years, the Nova Scotia government has put $18.9 million into the ferry service to keep it afloat.

The Cat, which can carry 900 passengers and 240 vehicles, has run every day in the summer, but only five days a week in the spring and fall shoulder season.

Yarmouth depends on the ferry service to deliver American tourists to the area. Local politicians and businesses fear its demise will mean the loss of hundreds of jobs in the hotel and service industries.

Last week, Yarmouth Coun. Ken Langille said that bus tour companies are already cancelling hotel bookings and hotel owners are preparing for layoffs.