Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Oct 28/05) - Some residents here think the territorial government mishandled the ferry labour dispute and let Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche know about it.

Despite being well aware of tensions between the ferry crew and contractor Rowe's Construction, the GNWT failed to form a contingency plan to get goods and services into Fort Simpson, said Kevin Allen, one of about 25 citizens to show up at Saturday's public meeting.

Mavis Cli-Michaud was equally critical of the territorial government.

"I think some heads should roll within the Department of Transportation," she said.

The government could have prevented this from escalating to the extent it did, Rita Cli contended.

"It's just like we're being held hostage, and that's bullshit," Cli said emphatically.

Some businesses expressed frustration over additional transportation and freight bills they received due to interruptions in ferry service. Businesswoman Wendy Groat said ferry employees should be re-hired to ensure certainty of service.

The territorial government had no legal grounds to interfere in the ferry quarrel up until last Thursday, Transportation Minister Michael McLeod said in an interview with the Deh Cho Drum.

"There are certain rights that the employer has. There are rights that the employees have," he said. "It's regulated by the federal government. As a department we were trying to be very careful that we didn't infringe on that process."

However, the picture changed when Rowe's Construction was unable to continue the service, according to McLeod.

He said government now considers the contract with Rowe's Construction to be null and void for this season and next.

"We'd have to have an alternate way of providing that service, whether it's going back to a tender process, whether it's operating the service with our own forces or something of that nature," he said.

Menicoche, who called Saturday's public meeting, said he would take the public's concerns back to the legislature this week. He planned to take the GNWT to task for refusing to provide him with the full ferry contract, he said.

Menicoche also told the audience he feels the territorial government could have deemed the ferry an essential service instead of leaving that question in the hands of a federal board convened in the south.

"I think you guys are right, the government fell on its face in this matter," Menicoche said to the crowd.

He added that the GNWT must begin to look at accounting for wage hikes and forced growth in any future three-to-four year contracts that it tenders.