ltmurnau | Yet another reason to stay home

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Yet another reason to stay home

BC Ferries to screen passengers

This is bloody ridiculous. What are they going to screen passengers for? Will I have to leave my nail clippers at home when I want to visit my dad on Pender Island?

Even in the crazy days after 9/11, when the commuter ferries from Bainbridge and Vashon Island to Seattle had an actual armed escort of Coast Guard cutters, Washington State Ferries never did this.

Ordinarily I'd suspect it's just a plot to keep people in the terminal a bit longer, so they can watch the giant TV and buy the overpriced coffee and trinkets. But this is just one for Stupid Security.

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Granted I'm not working for the ferries right now, and never heard of this before. But really, passengers are allowed to bring guns onto the ferries, providing that they, A) leave them in their vehicles, or B) have them locked up in a carrying case, unloaded. Why would they bother now to do such things now? (of course my union often said that management likes to do such foolish things).

Security right now has been mainly left to the crew, usually the Deckhands, but sometimes even catering attendants like me had to do such things. Yes, it's not something a lot of my co-workers would have liked to have done.

Also the Swartz Bay to Tsawassen Ferries have a capacity of 1500 to 2000 passengers. I don't think they can search everyone and expect to load the ferries in time, because between docking and departing they got about 30 minutes to do that. You sure this isn't a joke?

"Also the Swartz Bay to Tsawassen Ferries have a capacity of 1500 to 2000 passengers. I don't think they can search everyone and expect to load the ferries in time, because between docking and departing they got about 30 minutes to do that."

The ferries should be running 24/7
The current 7AM - 9PM nonsense is for the birds.

I think we've had it amply demonstrated what happens when ferries sail at night....

Oh!
Spot on Lt. Spot on!

How totally droll!

I concur this is pretty fucked up.

What I heard was "random searches" which is even more ridiculous. I don't think BCF actually offered to do this; I think their hands are tied, politically.

I know you! ;-)

How bizarre is this?
Do we BOTH know the Lt. ?

Wow. How odd!

Victoria's not _that_ big.

Word.

I've often argued that if there is typically 6 degrees of separation, Victoria allows for only half that.

Anton pointed this article out to me yesterday and we had a heated (read both of us ranting), ALL CAPS discussion about it via IMs.

I completely don't understand why they are searching passengers going from Canada to Canada. What sense does this make? I followed the link from the article to Transport Canada's website, and it seems to have something to do with various concerns, including people hijacking the boat, forcing it to crash, etc. Has this ever been a concern in the history of BC Ferries? Does Transport Canada realize they're putting a massive damper on the lives of everyone choosing to live on this island?

As if the trip via ferry from Victoria to Vancouver wasn't long enough.

I can still walk down to the inner harbor in Victoria and get on a seaplane with no fuss, no searches and no bullshit and
be in Vancouver within 25 minutes.

Yes, and I'm sure many people can. I can't however. And I reckon there are probably a few other people on this island that can't either.

Not many people would take the ferries more than once for fun, before they would opt to take Harbour Air; the difference in travel times is pretty extreme.

In 100 trips to Vancouver in the last 20 years, 90 of them have been VIA B.C. Ferries.
Nowadays, I make a reservation (which is obscene) -- I pay
extra for the privilege of AT LEAST getting on one of these
rust buckets and am not credited for it [like you are in Europe...]

It is just like Gas prices on Vancouver Island (don't get me started...)

They have us by the pony-tails...
Life on the Island

Watch THAT change in a big hurry!

I am not so sure -- 9/11 was, like, 6 years ago...
and planes have been flying in and out of the Inner Harbor
and Coal Harbor, Vancouver non-stop since several days
after 9/11 -- and there have been few, if any, security threats
or alerts since then...

Like our draconian security certificates which, thankfully, had
a sunset clause... were NEVER used...
(apart from that Toronto round-up which is still unsettled...)

Can you imagine living in a country where you can be arrested
for "thinking" about doing something... even joking about it.
Yea - I know... you cannot make BOMB jokes on airplanes..
(I actually overheard a Doofus on an Air Canada connector making
a joke about a BOMB -- the flight attendant said: "I DID NOT HEAR
WHAT YOU JUST SAID!" )and you cannot RAZZ security officers or
border guards at border crossings - they simply have no sense of
humor.

My point being -- A just society is one that locks people up
AFTER they do stuff... not before.

"I completely don't understand why they are searching passengers going from Canada to Canada."

And WHY are we carrying PASSPORTS to travel within Canada?

You need 2 pieces of picture ID to get on a plane from
point A to B --
That means a DRIVERS LICENSE (if you have one...) and a P.P.
Bullshit.

Get used to the phrase "PAPERS PLEASE!" folks.
We are quickly moving towards a fascist-like state
not-unlike Nazi Germany where we need "papers" to
go anywhere by air or sea within our own borders.

Soviet Russia had "internal passports" as well.

We are coming to resemble the rest of the world, in that suspicion of the motives and movements of one's own citizenry and arbitrary police powers are the norm.

How odd to think that up until about the start of the First World War, passports generally did not exist. If you were rich enough to travel, you did not pose a threat and therefore did not need "papers".

I am optomistic - I think "The People" [that's us...]
will prevail.
We will say NO to oinks, dogs, rent-an-oinks, stuff-shirts,
politicians, war-mongers and the like.

YES to freedom.

Freedom, baby, yeaaaaaaaa!

You have complete freedom to stay at home, baby, yeaaaa...
I think that's what they really want; if no one moves around, there's no trouble.

I can't imagine it'll be any worse than walking the bomb smelling dogs around the parking lot? What are they going to do, a full on customs style search of people's cars, inside and out?

*sits back and awaits the public outcry*

The B.C. Ferry system is part of the public highway system.

I would imagine a charter challenge on any regularly occuring
"random" searches.

I use the system regularly - If some rent-a-cop came up to
my wheels and said: "we wanna look in your trunk..."
I would say: "No warrant? Then UP yours..."
I would make a fuss.. They would suggest that I "turn around"..
I would not and then they would arrest me. Pretty simple.

Like America, Canada is slowly turning into a Police state...
certainly not as bad as the UK where there are 1 video camera
per 12 U.K. residents (It is estimated that there are some 4.2 million Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras in Britain, one for every 14 people. An individual might be captured by more than 300 separate cameras on an average day.) -- in the USA and Canada there is less than 1/10th the amount of video snooping that goes on in the U.K.

Still, all this terror talk is utter bullshit used
to power a false economy on the verge of global collapse.

Have a nice day!

Do you remember the brief furore when the police brought their drug dogs along for a ferry ride a few times, several years ago? Thin edge of the wedge, buddih... and if the ferries are part of the highway system, then the police are perfectly within their power to look you and every bit of your vehicle over, just as they are entitled to pull you over on the Malahat or anywhere else.

The ferries seem to operate in a weird zone between "highway" (provincial jurisdiction) and "marine traffic" (federal jurisdiction).

nocturnalmuse above points out the relevant Transport Canada memo about levels of maritime security.

They seem to be playing some kind of absurd catch-up against non-existent threats to ship traffic in the Straits. Witness the near-future deployment of a "marine commando regiment" at Comox; it's supposed to be there to protect against threats to ferries and cruise ships. Someone's been watching Speed 2: Cruise Control, I betcha!

A BC Ferry would be about as useful as a weapon
as the good year blimp...

What are you going to do, run it into Pender Island? Or ground it somewhere?
Their top speed is, what, 16 knots?
I can run faster than that for Chris-sakes...
(especially when motivated!)

Hey. Could we get into trouble just by talking about this stuff???
Hang on... someone is knocking at my door.....

Remember the times that the FUZZ were jumping onto
the BC Transit system and forcing people to open
up their bags because there was some event in town?

I can tell you that if I was riding the bus
across town to attend a party and some
oink wanted in my pack-sack to see if I
had any Wine...
I mean - the whole point of riding the BUS across town
is to GO to that PARTY with my WINE and enjoy myself.
Aint no way I am opening my bag and giving up my 12$ plonk
thanks very much.

Grrrr. fookin oinks.

I remember that. In fact, I got searched myself last Canada Day, and got to stand in a pool of vomit for the rest of the trip downtown. The fact that I was quite of age and had nothing in my bag but my Walkman cut no ice with the "nice" constable - I could have been a Zima mule for those uncontrolled youngsters!

Say What? Our Lt. was searched by the oinks?
You willingly submitted yourself to this indignity?
I cannot believe what I am reading!
Surely the Great Lt. would have faced house arrest before opening his
kit-bag to a dime-store reener.

My god man! Give you head a shake.
If you are not part of the resistance, you are part
of the quiet doping populace.
Pardon me now while I retch into my recycling basket.

"I got searched myself last Canada Day"...

Damn. I am not done yet.
Reading about this shit happening in MY country
makes me fookin furious.

Fcuk!

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Yet another reason to stay home

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Hey. VicTriviaQueen...

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No warrant... no search!

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