Emergency plan for Confederation Bridge traffic relies heavily on having ferries in place

A federal plan for maintaining Prince Edward Island's constitutionally guaranteed connection to the mainland in the event of a problem with the Confederation Bridge relies heavily on Northumberland Ferries Ltd., according to a copy of the document obtained through an access to information request.

CBC News first asked Transport Canada for the contingency plan earlier this year, after the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The federal department did not provide the document, so CBC News followed up with an access request.

What's in the plan has a new urgency this week, with both the boats currently being used by Northumberland Ferries  on the Nova Scotia-P.E.I. run tied up for repairs.

"That the federal government … has allowed the ferry service to diminish and decline to the extent that it has, it's pretty worrisome that that's what we have as a backup plan," said Green MLA Matt MacFarlane, reacting to the details in the plan.

"In my lifetime I've never seen the situation at Wood Islands as bad as they are and unreliable as they are."

The federal government has a responsibility to maintain a reliable year-round link to the mainland under the terms of Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation in 1873. The original deal specified that would be accomplished by ship service, but the language was amended in 1993 to commit Ottawa to provide "a fixed crossing joining the Island to the mainland." 

'Immediate impacts on this supply chain'

The contingency document outlines several ways in which the 12.9-kilometre Confederation Bridge could be rendered unusable, including an accident involving a boat, plane or road vehicle; a hazardous material spill; and a terrorist attack.

It does not appear to have been updated for some time, however. The plan refers to MV Holiday Island as a boat owned by Transport Canada and operated by Northumberland Ferries, but that ferry caught fire during a crossing in the summer of 2022 and had to be scrapped.

The plan notes that the way supplies come to the Island has changed significantly since the bridge opened in 1997, connecting Borden-Carleton on the Island with Cape Jourimain in New Brunswick.

Before the bridge was built, supplies came to the Island by ship, in larger amounts that were stored locally for gradual draw-down. Those warehouses are now closed, and supplies come to the Island on a just-in-time basis.

"Any closure of the Confederation Bridge, long or short, would have immediate impacts on this supply chain and on the quality of life of Islanders," the plan says.

The contingency plan addresses four basic scenarios, with the bridge closed for more than or fewer than 30 days, and during or not during ice season.

No ice, bridge shut less than 30 days

In this scenario, the ferry service based in Wood Islands would move to a 24-hour service, reservations would be mandatory, and space for personal vehicles would be limited to make room for cargo trucks. Walk-on traffic would be encouraged, with transportation links offered by bus, taxi or rental cars at the terminals in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.

The ferry connection to Îles-de-la-Madeleine would be moved from Souris to Sydney, N.S., in order to minimize traffic passing through P.E.I. en route to the Quebec island archipelago.

Moving the required goods by ferry only would be a significant challenge. The report notes that Northumberland Ferries' May-to-December operations handle only about 10 per cent of traffic to and from the Island at the moment. Transport Canada would get involved to encourage the transfer of more goods through other marine transport options.

No ice, bridge shut more than 30 days

This plan is much the same as the scenario for fewer than 30 days, but includes planning for the longer term.

That means working toward securing boats capable of operating when there is ice in the Northumberland Strait in the winter months, and actually establishing contracts for the marine transport of goods.

Finding suitable replacement ferries would be difficult, especially on short notice. MV Saaremaa, the current replacement for Holiday Island, is not built for the windier days of summer on the Northumberland Strait, let alone the turbulent winter months.

Frustration is my biggest feeling right now. Who to contact, who actually makes the decisions, what can we do?— Belfast MLA Darlene Compton

A longer-term temporary replacement for Holiday Island, MV Fanafjord, was purchased from Norway last year. That ferry is still undergoing a retrofit and has not yet made the trip across the Atlantic.

A temporary air taxi/shuttle service would be contracted for services to take people between the cities of Charlottetown and Summerside on the Island and the mainland destinations of Halifax and Moncton.

Ice, bridge shut less than 30 days

Ice complicates matters, because neither of the ships now being operated by Northumberland Ferries is built to break through floe or solid ice conditions. The service does not run from mid-December to early May, leaving Confederation Bridge as the only way to get vehicles on or off P.E.I.

The contingency plan would turn to the ferry that runs between Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Souris, which does have ice-breaking capability. It runs only three days a week in winter at the moment; under the disaster plan, it would be seconded to run between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia for the other four days of the week. 

To preserve space for cargo, personal vehicles would not be permitted.

Ice, bridge shut more than 30 days

The plan here is not much different from the plan for no ice and less than 30 days, but the urgency of finding other boats is increased.

'Who actually makes the decisions?'

Earlier this month, PC MLA Darlene Compton, who represents the Belfast district that includes the Wood Islands ferry terminal, told CBC News she has been frustrated in her efforts to get information from the federal government about the service.

While Northumberland Ferries operates the service and maintains the ferries, it is the federal government that owns the ships. Transport Canada is thus responsible for replacing them at the end of their useful life.

Earlier this year, Compton was concerned that federal transport minister Pablo Rodriguez, who had been in the portfolio for a little more than a year, might not be paying adequate attention to the file.

Rodriguez has since resigned and been replaced by Anita Anand.

"Frustration is my biggest feeling right now. Who to contact, who actually makes the decisions, what can we do?" Compton told CBC's Island Morning Wednesday.

Counting the ferry currently in the design stage, there are four ferries connected to the Northumberland Strait crossing and none of them are operational.

Compton said the service should have at least two reliable ferries on the spring-summer-fall service — and given the importance of a back-up link to the mainland if something happens to the Confederation Bridge, she added that year-round ferry service should be available.