Sunshine Coast ferry routes have not been included on a list issued by 小蓝视频 Ferries April 23 banning non-essential vehicle travel.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said at an April 23 media briefing formally announcing travel restrictions that 小蓝视频 Ferries will be restricting non-essential vehicle travel, will deter non-essential bookings and will limit sailings.
In a release following the announcement, 小蓝视频 Ferries clarified customers will be denied passage on ferries connecting regional zones if it鈥檚 deemed non-essential, and will rely on 鈥渙ther jurisdictional authorities for assistance with enforcement of this Order.鈥�
The order applies to Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay routes to Vancouver Island, as well as the Comox-Powell River and Port Hardy-Prince Rupert routes, but doesn鈥檛 apply to routes within regional zones, including the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay and Earls Cove-Saltery Bay routes.
Instead, customers 鈥渨ill be reminded they should be avoiding non-essential travel at this time,鈥� said the release.
A checkbox has been added for online booking 鈥渢o ensure customers read and acknowledge they are travelling for essential reasons.鈥�
鈥溞±妒悠� Ferries supports doing everything we can to discourage non-essential travel, and this Order gives us the legal authority we need to deny travel for non-essential reasons,鈥� said 小蓝视频 Ferries president and CEO Mark Collins, in the release.
Extra sailings will not be added for the May long weekend.
Effective April 23, if anyone travels outside their 鈥渞egional zone鈥� for non-essential purposes they will be subject to a $575 fine 鈥� though Farnworth also made it clear that shouldn鈥檛 give people free rein to travel outside their local community.
The rule also applies to non-essential travellers from outside the province.
Under the new order, which will remain in effect until May 25, three 鈥渞egional zones鈥� have been established using health authority boundaries.
Fraser Health has been combined with Vancouver Coastal Health to form one regional zone, while Northern and Interior Health regions make up another zone, as does Vancouver Island.
As for the rationale behind splitting the province into three regional zones, Farnworth said it was a 鈥渃ommon sense approach.鈥�
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e acknowledging is the complication of two significant health authorities in the Lower Mainland where people cross back and forth every single day to work, and the ability to police that, for example, or do checks 鈥� it鈥檚 just not practical.鈥�
Travel within the order鈥檚 regional zones is not banned but is discouraged, said Farnworth. 鈥淚f you live on the North Shore, that鈥檚 your local area. Stay in that area.鈥�
The objective of the order, which was announced earlier this week and formally issued April 23, is to ensure people stop traversing large parts of the province in order to limit the spread of COVID-19 variants of concern that have led to record hospitalizations and put a growing strain on the health-care system.
At Friday鈥檚 media briefing, Farnworth said the province is working with tourism and accommodation sector leaders to support operators in cancelling bookings made by travellers outside their regional zones and to not accept new ones.
A joint statement from the Tourism Industry Association of 小蓝视频 and Ministry of Tourism, released April 23, asked 小蓝视频 residents to 鈥渟tay local unless it is absolutely essential.鈥�
The statement encouraged people instead to support local businesses by dining at restaurant patios with immediate households, visiting local attractions and 鈥渂ooking a staycation at a local hotel.鈥�
Executive director for Sunshine Coast Tourism Paul Kamon said he is already fielding calls from accommodations operators and is seeking clarity from the province on how operators should approach booking requests from people living in Vancouver or other areas within the regional zone, and 鈥渢o help us provide clear messaging to both our stakeholders and to potential visitors to the Coast.鈥�
鈥淭he government is in a tough spot. [They鈥檙e] trying to be as clear as they can, but it鈥檚 not all the same in every region. There鈥檚 overlap, there鈥檚 vague notions of what is a local area 鈥� it depends on who you ask,鈥� Kamon told Coast Reporter.
Another big question mark remaining is who will be liable for cancelled bookings. He noted customers are still required to pay administrative fees when cancelling through sites like Airbnb, for example.
小蓝视频 Parks will be refunding bookings and informing the public about the restrictions, and highway signage will be added along the Alberta border.
As for enforcement, Farnworth said detailed information about that won鈥檛 be coming until next week.
He did, however, clarify that checks won鈥檛 be arbitrary or random, but will be similar to the police-run CounterAttack program targeting drunk drivers, and located at 鈥渟trategic points at the borders between health authorities.鈥�
Farnworth said the province has been working closely with the RCMP and chiefs of police on how the order will work, but did not respond when asked whether it would boil down to police pulling over RVs.
The delay was needed to ensure 鈥渋t鈥檚 done right,鈥� address public concerns, and ensure the order, which takes place under section 10 of the Emergency Program Act, 鈥渋s the right one.鈥�
鈥淚 want us to avoid the situation for example, that happened in Ontario,鈥� he said.
As for definitions of essential travel, a detailed list has been supplied on the and includes school, work, commercial transportation of goods, returning to principal residences and obtaining health care.
鈥淭his is about discouraging travel, unnecessary travel,鈥� said Farnworth. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about reminding people that if we take this action now, if we don鈥檛 travel outside our health region 鈥� then you know what, come the summer we鈥檒l be in a much better place where you hopefully will be able to travel like we used to.鈥�
