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Kennebecasis Island residents put on notice of possible ferry shutdown

The Peninsula Princess ferry, which operates on the Kennebecasis River between Millidgeville and Summerville on the Kingston Peninsula, will not be in operation in the event of a Oct. 22 CUPE Local strike.  (GNB - image credit)
The Peninsula Princess ferry, which operates on the Kennebecasis River between Millidgeville and Summerville on the Kingston Peninsula, will not be in operation in the event of a Oct. 22 CUPE Local strike. (GNB - image credit)

The ferry servicing Kennebecasis Island will not operate in the event of a strike, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green says.

All 10 CUPE locals that were in wage talks with the province have voted in favour of a strike as of Oct. 6. Due to the rising COVID-19 case counts, the potential strike date was postponed to Oct. 22.

"The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is doing some planning around what our service is going to look like should a strike occur," Green told CBC News on Monday.

"One of the decisions we've had to make is that the Kennebecasis Island ferry would have to be closed down early if there is a strike."

The 10 locals represent around 22,000 workers in the province, in sectors such as health care, education, nursing homes, municipalities and transportation.

Ferry service to Kennebecasis Island, which is predominantly a cottager community, operates on the Kennebecasis River between Millidgeville and Summerville on the Kingston Peninsula.

Service operates from the Victoria Day weekend in May to the Remembrance Day weekend in November.

Green says service would stop until the strike has ended or until the normal service end date.

Other ferries being considered

Green says other river ferries will be impacted, but did not say which ones are being considered. Transportation services as a whole will be affected by a strike.

"All our operations will be impacted and the team is working really hard to make the best decisions on deployment of essential personnel to have the least amount of disruptions to the public."

Green says outreach has been taking place to get the information out to affected residents.

"We've reached out to the island residents, we've reached up the local MLAs, and we just want to be sure people are aware so they can plan accordingly," she said. "We don't want to surprise anyone."