Question Period Note: Eastern Canada ferry services

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About

Reference number:
TC-2021-QP-00008
Date received:
Jul 2, 2021
Organization:
Transport Canada
Name of Minister:
Alghabra, Omar (Hon.)
Title of Minister:
Minister of Transport

Issue/Question:

Eastern Canada ferry services

Suggested Response:

  • The Government of Canada supports three inter-provincial ferry services in Eastern Canada, including service between: Saint John, New Brunswick and Digby, Nova Scotia; Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia; and Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec and Souris, Prince Edward Island.
  • Budget 2019 announced that the Government of Canada would build two new vessels to replace the MV Madeleine and MV Holiday Island. We are working with Chantier Davie to design the two new ferries.
  • In Summer 2020, the Government of Canada made a decision to acquire the MV Villa de Teror, since renamed the MV Madeleine II, as an interim replacement for the MV Madeleine because the vessel has reached the end of its life cycle.
  • The MV Madeleine II entered service on June 1 2021 and will ensure safe and reliable ferry service until the new replacement ferry, MV Jean Lapierre, is ready in 2026/27. The MV Madeleine is being disposed of in an environmentally-conscious manner.

If pressed

  • The contract to dispose of the MV Madeleine was awarded to Marine Recycling Corporation on April 27, 2021. The vessel has moved to the Contractor’s facility in Edwardsville, NS, where it will be disposed of in an environmentally-conscious manner. The dismantling and disposing of the vessel is expected to take 12 months.

Background:

N/A

Additional Information:

Location: Eastern Canada