Emergency plan for Confederation Bridge traffic relies heavily on having ferries in place

A federal plan for maintaining Prince Edward Island's constitutionally guaranteed connection to the mainland in the event of a problem with the Confederation Bridge relies heavily on Northumberland Ferries Ltd., according to a copy of the document obtained through an access to information request.

CBC News first asked Transport Canada for the contingency plan earlier this year, after the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The federal department did not provide the document, so CBC News followed up with an access request.

What's in the plan has a new urgency this week, with both the boats currently being used by Northumberland Ferries  on the Niva Scotia-P.E.I. run tied up for repairs.

"That the federal government … has allowed the ferry service to diminish and decline to the extent that it has, it's pretty worrisome that that's what we have as a backup plan," said Green MLA Matt MacFarlane, reacting to the details in the plan.

"In my lifetime I've never seen the situation at Wood Islands as bad as they are and unreliable as they are."

The federal government has a responsibility to maintain a reliable year-round link to the mainland under the terms of Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation in 1873. The original deal specified that would be accomplished by ship service, but the language was amended in 1993 to commit Ottawa to provide "a fixed crossing joining the Island to the mainland." 

The contingency document outlines several ways in which the Confederation Bridge could be rendered unusable, including an accident involving a boat, plane or road vehicle; a hazardous material spill; and a terrorist attack.

It does not appear to have been updated for some time, however. The plan refers to MV Holiday Island as a boat owned by Transport Canada and operated by Northumberland Ferries, but that ferry caught fire during a crossing in the summer of 2022 and had to be scrapped.

The plan notes that the way supplies come to the Island has changed significantly since the bridge opened in 1997, connecting Borden-Carleton on the Island with Cape Jourimain in New Brunswick.

Before the bridge was built, supplies came to the Island by ship, in larger amounts that were stored locally for gradual draw-down. Those warehouses are now closed, and supplies come to the Island on a just-in-time basis.

"Any closure of the Confederation Bridge, long or short, would have immediate impacts on this supply chain and on the quality of life of Islanders," the plan says.

The contingency plan addresses four basic scenarios, with the bridge closed for more than or fewer than 30 days, and during or not during ice season.

In this scenario, the ferry service based in Wood Islands would move to a 24-hour service, reservations would be mandatory, and space for personal vehicles would be limited to make room for cargo trucks. Walk-on traffic would be encouraged, with transportation links offered by bus, taxi or rental cars at the terminals in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.