Opposition Leader Questions Government Honesty

The leader of Nova Scotia’s official opposition has called into question the honesty of the Stephen McNeil government.

With current photos of the ferry terminal in Bar Harbour, Maine, Tim Houston says the Yarmouth ferry was not ready to bring people to Nova Scotia this year, COVID or no COVID.

Houston offered photos showing heavy machinery parked under exposed beams of the incomplete toll booth with construction supplies and temporary fencing spread across the property. The Liberals cancelled sailing in 2020 claiming that it was due to COVID-19. The Tory leader says the photos raise questions of whether the ferry service was ready at all for the 2020 season. He added, “Remarkably, based on what we’ve seen, it's not even ready as of today.”

In 2019, Nova Scotia taxpayers footed the $17.8 million cost of the ferry though it did not carry a single passenger. 

The overall cost of the Yarmouth ferry service, since the Liberals took over, is projected to be nearly $100 million. Houston says he has sued the government for details but the provincial Liberals are currently in court attempting to keep the actual breakdown of those costs from the public.

“The government needs to come clean,” said Houston. “How much money is this whole boondoggle costing taxpayers?”

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