Liberal Party sucks . . . NDP sucks more

[rookie314]

Anybody want to buy a fast ferry? Sorry I forgot, we (NDP) gave them away.

[Logitack]

fast ferries were sold......................at a loss................by the liberals!

[Mr. Personality]

fast ferries were sold......................at a loss................by the liberals!

You expected anyone would pay full bore for those things?

[Rwede]

fast ferries were sold......................at a loss................by the liberals!

Ferries worth $19 million were bought by the NDP for $450 million.

[The Green Barbarian]

fast ferries were sold......................at a loss................by the liberals!

wow - I just love the spin on this one...so stupid ferries bought by morons who couldn't even read a business plan get a free pass, but the suckers who were just trying to salvage a few bucks for the taxpayers from this giant mess are the ones that are to be blamed? Seriously? My goodness. This is why history repeats itself - people just refuse to learn from their past mistakes.

[Mr. Personality]

The Liberals should have asked for a new deck in addition to the money they received. That would have made it okay.

[The Green Barbarian]

The Liberals should have asked for a new deck in addition to the money they received. That would have made it okay.

and then taken all the proceeds and spent it at Bingo.

[flamingfingers]

Sigh...

After a change in leadership, the new Premier of BC, Ujjal Dosanjh, placed the ferries up for sale. A subsequent election virtually eliminated the New Democratic Party from the legislature, and Gordon Campbell of the BC Liberals auctioned off the PacifiCat fleet on March 24, 2003 for $19.4 million ($6.5 million/vessel) to the Washington Marine Group. Further controversy erupted when it was revealed that the same company, which is a prominent financial backer of the Liberal Party, had offered $60 million for the vessels prior to the auction. Some claimed the aluminum ships were worth more as scrap. Others said the Indonesians were prepared to pay as much as $88 million.[3]

Projected uses
In September 2005, the media reported that the Washington Marine Group had expressed interest in operating a fast ferry service from Downtown Vancouver to a point on Vancouver Island. When questioned, representatives of WMG indicated that they are actively searching for suitable applications for the Fast Ferries and they would not rule out such a service.

On Friday, December 16, 2005 WMG confirmed that it is considering putting the ferries into service from North Vancouver to Duke Point (near Nanaimo) to compete with the BC Ferries routes. WMG at one point said they intended to make a decision by the spring of 2006.

As of July 2009 the ferries have been sold for use in the United Arab Emirates.[4][5]

http://www.squidoo.com/fast-cats-ferries

Fast Cat Ferries of BC
An epic political boondoggle the "Pacfic Cats" or "Fast Cat Ferries" were sold off to a USA company and have finally found thier home in the United Arab Emirates.

The greatest boondoggle is not the initial waste that brought down a government but the long fallout that has happened since.

The Fast-Cats were sold off for a mere 19 million when a higher offer had been made ,attempts to have a rival service to compete with BC ferries got wrapped in red tape and lastly the Fat Cats were shipped off to the Middleeast for a handsome sum.

Another Gordo giveaway for "MY Family (and Friends) First!"

[Logitack]

you were saying, gb, about the fast ferries?

[The Green Barbarian]

Sigh...

Another Gordo giveaway for "MY Family (and Friends) First!"

no excusing this story, if true - but we are still talking about $40 million vs the $450 million that was spent by the NDP in the first place, in what was an easily avoidable transaction, had the NDP government of the time not been staffed with union organizers and teachers, who didn't know a business plan from a kangaroo, and a fast ferry from fast ball. So to sum up the thread nicely, the Liberals sucked for selling the ferries at below cost of what they may or may not have been offered elsewhere, but the NDP sucks more for putting the BC taxpayers in the position of having bought useless ferries we didn't need and couldn't use in the first place.

[The Green Barbarian]

you were saying, gb, about the fast ferries?

I just did - see above. It really baffles me how you can give a bunch of idiots like the NDP a free pass for spending $450 million but want to hang the Liberals for losing less than 1/10th of that. How blind are you people? Seriously.

[Mr. Personality]

you were saying, gb, about the fast ferries?

I just did - see above. It really baffles me how you can give a bunch of idiots like the NDP a free pass for spending $450 million but want to hang the Liberals for losing less than 1/10th of that. How blind are you people? Seriously.

I would say very selectively.

[flamingfingers]

I guess you could say that spending $540 million or so on ferries that stay docked most of the time because they are causing structural damage to docking facilities and buildings, are fuel guzzlers and not nearly as efficient as 40 year old ferries and are only used on weekends (sometimes) is 'prudent fiscal management'...

[logicalview]

I guess you could say that spending $540 million or so on ferries that stay docked most of the time because they are causing structural damage to docking facilities and buildings, are fuel guzzlers and not nearly as efficient as 40 year old ferries and are only used on weekends (sometimes) is 'prudent fiscal management'...

The provincial government at the time, led by New Democratic Party (NDP) premier Glen Clark, bought the ferries.

But like typical Castacommies, the truth is nary admitted.

[Captain Awesome]

Can we all just stop talking about Fast Ferries?

Seriously, ancient history.