With the closure of the LaSalle Causeway causing traffic disruptions both by road and by waterway, impacted cruise line businesses are considering legal action against the federal government.
In a release sent from St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, the company says several vessels have been trapped in the inner harbour due to construction delays, in addition to leading to what is effectively a shutdown of the only dry dock in eastern Ontario.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is responsible for the repairs of the bridge, and though they provided a letter to St. Lawrence Cruise Lines’ letter from April 18, the company was disappointed with the lack of answers, and there was no acknowledgement of potential legal action.
Public Services and Procurement Canada remains focused on implementing a repair solution for the compromised diagonal element,” reads PSPC’s letter from Assistant Deputy Minister Mark Quinlan.
“We are working tirelessly to fix and reopen the bridge as soon as possible. PSPC is also committed to considering all proposed alternate solutions in order to achieve the best outcome for all stakeholders but is not able to move forward with any of the proposals at this time.”
Two 1000 Islands ships – the Island Star and Island Belle – are moored in the harbour, in addition to St. Lawrence Cruise Lines’ ship The Canadian Empress.
The lack of availability of those ships could, collectively, mean lost income from close to 400 passengers per voyage.
The causeway was set to open on May 1st but an incident during construction in early April has caused a need for repair work, for which a clear timeline has not yet been given.
Jason Clark, President of St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, says the delay is unacceptable.
“My ship has run aground in government incompetence and red tape,” said Clark.
“Other commercial owners are in the same boat.”
That includes 1000 Islands Cruises and Metalcraft Marine, two other businesses with locally operated cruises.
St. Lawrence Cruise Lines said in the release that their seasonal business has already felt the impacts of the Causeway closure, with the company being forced to cancel the first voyage of the season for The Empress which had been set to take to the water on May 10.
President Jason Clark says it’s unlikely that will be the last of cancelled trips.
There is a way to open part of the channel to “ease the situation”, but Clark accused Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez and local Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen of sitting on their hands.
He says a lack of response will lead to there being no other choice but to take legal action.
“It’s scandalous that the federal government and the local MP who are supposed to protect Kingston jobs are
twiddling their thumbs while several businesses face bankruptcy,” said Clark.
“We have no alternative but to take the federal government to court if they fail to act now.”
Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen provided a statement in response, saying he understands the impacts, but that the top priority needs to be the safety of crews and the public.
“I recognize that it is imperative for the bridge to reopen as quickly as possible, given the significant impact on residents, businesses, and tourism,” Gerretsen’s statement read.
“I continue to speak with PSPC, the Minister responsible for PSPC, as well as ministerial staff, on a regular basis with respect to the work underway, the timelines, and communication with local stakeholders and the public. Engineers and crews are working diligently and as expeditiously as possible to reopen the bridge; however, the safety of the crews, as well as the traveling public once it reopens, must remain paramount.”
The release from St. Lawrence Cruise Lines says the solution is obvious, and not that complex, and in an accompanying document both 1000 Islands Cruises and St. Lawrence Cruise Lines co-signed the proposed solution.
They say the preferred response is to schedule several temporary lifts of the Bascule Bridge either with the bridge’s own mechanism or with a crane.
The proposal goes on to say if that’s not possible, the low, concrete span of the bridge should be temporarily removed in one section to allow passage by marine traffic – the cruise line operators say the work could be timed to coincide with Bascule bridge repairs and not cause additional delays to vehicular traffic.
It’s unclear if either plan would have an impact on pedestrian traffic, as PSPC has not provided any indication whether the bridge could be opened to pedestrians earlier than vehicles.
Daniel Beals, Operations Manager for St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, says that Canada’s Navigable Water Act includes what would be the basis for a legal challenge.
He says the Act states that the Transport Minister has a responsibility to step in when a project or structure is obstructing navigation, for both businesses and the public alike.
“It cannot impede transport of goods, movement of people, lit can’t stop the public anymore than it could stop business,” Beals said.
“This isn’t just about business.”
Beals says conversations with Transport Canada lead the interested parties to believe that it’s possible that the Act could be invoked, however considering the waterway wasn’t set to be open for the season until May 1, the Minister may not be procedurally able to do so until the repairs are officially in violation of the Act.
He says they need to be given more clarity than that so they can do right by their prospective passengers, and whatever steps can be taken leading up to May 1, should be.
“Even though they’ve kind of told us they don’t think it will be open for May 1st, I think that part of it is that Transport Canada can’t act until May 1st because they haven’t broken the law until they’ve broken it,” Beals said.
“If it’s a matter of you can’t go do it, well, you could still do the prep work… what we’ve been trying to say to PSPC is, I know that we’re not past May 1st yet, but we have to decide before May 1st if we’re going to cancel so that we are living up to our duty as a responsible cruise business.”
They’ve already cancelled their May 12-16 cruise, and Beals says they’re going to have to make a decision on the cruise that departs on May 16 within the next 2 to 5 days so they can give passengers time to sort out their arrangements if a cancellation is necessary.
Beals adds that with the Rideau Canal scheduled to open on May 17, this debacle could block another major waterway.
