This week, Transportation Minister Todd Stone told B.C. Ferries to back off on a plan to cut the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo route.
The North Shore News first published a story about the proposal in March of this year.
But it wasn't until the public saw it published in a strategy plan for efficiency by B.C. Ferries that the excrement hit the propeller.
On the plus side, cutting the route would have likely taken vehicles off our roads and bridges, allowing us to have a conversation about something other than North Shore traffic for a change. But it would also have signed the death warrant for an entire commercial area and - most importantly - taken away a key route well used by ferry travellers.
The quasi-private corp.'s understandable motive was to get out of doing $200 million in upgrades needed at the ferry terminal and to shift all Nanaimo sailings to the less busy Tsawwassen terminal.
But it would also be failing to meet B.C. Ferries' mandate of serving the public and ferry-dependent communities - something constantly under threat from the corporation as it struggles to find enough money to pay the bills.
Horseshoe Bay businesses and the travelling public can breathe a sigh of relief this week.
But there will be more tough decisions and more stormy seas ahead.
B.C. Ferries is left with the same issues it faced before - looming capital costs, shrinking revenues and a lone government shareholder that has other priorities.
