BC Ferries passengers handed travel bans after spate of abusive incidents - CityNews Vancouver

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — In the last two weeks, customers have been banned from BC Ferries for abusive behaviour targeting employees–one for driving a car toward a worker, one for threatening to use a weapon, and one for an alleged sexual assault.

The passengers involved have all been issued one-year travel bans and the incidents have all been reported to the police, according to Mark Collins, President and CEO.

“Under federal law BC Ferries is entitled to deny travel in circumstances like this and that’s what we’ve done,” he says.

On Oct. 15 at the Langdale terminal, a customer was banned after being arrested.

“The customer pulled his car out of the designated lane and drove aggressively at one of our employees. Our employee had to jump out of the way to protect themselves.”

Two days later, at Horseshoe Bay an upset customer threatened to come back to the terminal with a gun after a dispute with a worker. The incident was reported to police and that customer was similarly banned.

On Oct. 22 a man was arrested at the Tsawwassen terminal after an employee reported a sexual assault.

Collins says bans can also be imposed on customers whose behaviour doesn’t rise to the level of a criminal offence, saying verbal harassment will not be tolerated.

“This is one of the primary enforcement methods that BC Ferries has to ensure that passengers treat our employees with respect.”

Collins says the vast majority of the 23 million people who board ferries each year behave themselves, estimating 150 travel bans are issued annually.

“In the scale of how many people we’re handling, it’s not a huge number but it’s very important that our employees have a safe and respectful environment and so when these happens we take it seriously.”

He explains that a wave of these incidents is not uncommon, especially during busy weekends when sailings are delayed and tempers are frayed.

“Approach our staff in a respectful manner and we will do everything that we can to ensure that you have a good travel experience. In return, our expectation is that BC Ferries workers have a safe and respectful work environment.”

With files from Ria Renouf and Marcella Bernardo

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November 01, 2019 at 06:31AM