BC Ferries to cut rates by 2%

BC Ferries will use a $119 million excise rebate from the federal government to cut its fares by up to two per cent on Oct. 18, the corporation's CEO David Hahn has confirmed.

Ottawa is giving BC Ferries the excise rebate for import duties it paid on four vessels it had built offshore.The vessels involved include three new Coastal class vesselsthat were built in Germany for atotal cost of $524 million and launched in 2008.

Hahn and federal minister Stockwell Daymade theannouncement at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler, after CBC News broke the news earlier Friday morning.

The NDP MLA for the North Coast Gary Coons called that good news for passengers hurt by previous rate hikes.

"Under the quasi-privatized model that the B.C. Liberals put in for our ferry service we've seen skyrocketing fares, we've seen the devastation of ferry-dependent communities as ridership has gone down," he said.

"So I do hope that BC Ferries will put this to reducing fares and making sure that ferry-dependent communities have the services they require," said Coons.