The B.C. government announced it will now subject B.C. Ferries to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The government will also separate the BC Ferry Services board of directors from the BC Ferry Authority. This is great news.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, together with the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association wrote a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell November 13, 2009 calling for BC Ferries to be subject, once again, to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. This has now been done.

Separating the BC Ferry services board of directors from the BC Ferry Authority is also a welcomed move.

The Ferry Authority is the sole shareholder of BC Ferries and is supposed to appoint the ferry Board members and set Board and executive salaries. What did Authority members do? They appointed themselves to the Board then gave themselves, and the Ferries executives, big pay increases. It took a Comptroller General's report to reveal this because it appeared BC Ferries is accountable to no one.

The CG's report found the Board of Director's pay was 3-5 times higher than allowed under Treasury Board rules. True, BC Ferries is not a technically a crown corporation so not subject to those rules, but still operates as a government monopoly and still gets millions of taxpayer's dollars every year to operate.

Lastly, the BC Ferry Commission will regulate services where it has determined that BC Ferries enjoys an unfair competitive advantage. This is a good first step to making BC Ferries truly accountable, as it should start to break down the BC Ferries monopoly. The competitive discipline of the marketplace should help BC Ferries operate in the most efficient way.