Wolfe Island residents ask for answers amid ferry delays

Delays from the original launch date for the new Wolfe Islander 4 ferry are approaching five months, proving problematic for those who need to travel to the mainland.

“We have over 1,100 that call this place home,” says Wolfe Island resident Judy Greenwood-Speers. “So we need to have reliable service.”

Greenwood-Speers is looking to political leaders for answers to when the new ferry will arrive in its berth.

“It’s actually a safety issue as well,” she says. “We depend on getting people over to Kingston to medical care, and that happens very frequently.”

Township of Frontenac Islands Mayor Denis Doyle sent a letter to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) on behalf of council on July 6, expressing a need for answers.

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The letter states that council seeks “assistance and support in getting the Wolfe Islander IV in service and to address the current staffing issue, which has recently caused the service to be shut down on a number of occasions.”

But for Greenwood-Speers, that effort isn’t enough.

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“Our municipal council has not been communicating proactively on a regular basis,” she says. “They look at it as, ‘Well, it’s the Ministry of Transportation.’ I look at it as our city street. If you had Kingston shut down that no one could come in or out for 12 hours, you would be very concerned. And that’s exactly the sort of hostage-taking that can happen to an island that is at risk.”

The initial start date for operation of the new zero-emission, fully electric vessel was supposed to be the end of March 2022, once the crew was trained.

This date was missed and rescheduled for June 23. But the vessel remains docked at the Picton Terminal, 10 months after arrival, with work still needed to be done on the Kingston docks.

“Our goal is to get these ferries up and running as soon as possible,” MTO officials tell Global News. “MTO continues to work closely with the Municipality of Frontenac Islands to ensure this project is successfully delivered.”

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Greenwood-Speers says “there should be an investigation” into the matter.

“This is public money, this is our taxpayer money. And I’ve watched these cranes stay idle for months on months at a time.”

Doyle was not available for an interview but told Global News via email that a meeting with the transportation minister has been confirmed for mid-August.

He hopes that Caroline Mulroney will have an accurate date for when the larger ferry will be put in service between Kingston and Wolfe Island at that time.

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