A vital link
The ferry service has changed over the years, but it is as important as ever
Day 3 in a three-day series marking 120 years of ferry service between Cape Breton and N.L.
Most Cape Bretoners and Newfoundlanders have seen a Marine Atlantic vessel plying the waters of the Cabot Strait, but perhaps not as many know the history of the ferry service.
This year, Marine Atlantic is celebrating 120 years of service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, a service that is still a vital transportation link to many today.
The first passenger ferry crossing happened on June 30, 1898, when the SS Bruce departed Port aux Basques for North Sydney just before midnight, arriving in Cape Breton the next morning.
“It marked the official crossing between Port aux Basques and North Sydney – it was a day of celebration,” said Marine Atlantic spokesman Darrell Mercer.
The ferry service was first operated by the Reid Newfoundland Co. under the direction of Robert G. Reid. The company began operating coastal and ferry services, integrating with the railway system.
“It was a big progression in transportation to and from Newfoundland when the ferry service was established,” said Mercer. “It was very important for the island.”
In 1923, the Newfoundland government took control of the island’s railway under the Railway Settlement Act, also taking over the ferry service.
The SS Caribou joined the ferry service in 1925.
Tragedy struck in October 1942 when the SS Caribou was torpedoed by a German Uboat patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence and sank, killing 136 people on board; 101 people survived.
Ron Macdonald, member of the North Sydney Historical Society, was in Grade 4 at the time and recalls word of the sinking trickling out.
“We were let known fairly early in the morning, but the news was very slow coming out, as was the case in any world war,” Macdonald told the Cape Breton Post in a September 2017 interview.
“Prior to going to class, we knew that something had happened to the Caribou, but we didn’t know exactly what happened.”
Macdonald said the ferry was an extremely important service, and many Newfoundlanders settled in North Sydney because of it.
“This was the connecting link to Newfoundland, which wasn’t part of Canada at the time,” he said. “North Sydney was 50 per cent Newfoundlanders, but the ferry kept the lifeline alive for all the Newfoundlanders because they could go home in six hours or so.”
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation and the Newfoundland railway and the ferry service became part of the Canadian National Railway.
Marine Atlantic was established as a Crown corporation in 1986 to take over ferry services in Atlantic Canada, which had been previously operated by CN Marine.
The company controlled ferry services between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as well as connecting Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Maine.
In 1997, the Confederation Bridge was built, connecting New Brunswick and P.E.I., replacing Marine Atlantic’s constitutionally mandated ferry service to the island.
Later that year, Marine Atlantic transferred the operation of its Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine services to private-sector company Bay Ferries Ltd., which allowed Marine Atlantic to focus on its constitutionally mandated service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
“We’re considered a piece of vital transportation and infrastructure in Canada,” said Mercer. Over the years, many vessels have come and gone. The MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood and MV Caribou were replaced in 2011 by the MV Highlanders and MV Blue Puttees.
Other notable vessels include the MV Marine Evangeline (1978-1992) and the MV Atlantic Freighter (1986-2010).
Although times have changed, Mercer believes the ferry is just as important today.
“If our service doesn’t sail, and we see that sometimes during the winter months, store shelves start to go empty in Newfoundland, so we recognize the importance of our service,” said Mercer.
“The retailers in Newfoundland rely on us as part of their supply chain, that’s why we try to ensure that our services are in operation 365 days a year, and when we do get behind, we try to get our services back up as quickly as possible.”
In recent years, Marine Atlantic has upgraded its facility in North Sydney, opening a new terminal on the Northside in 2015 — at a cost of $20 million.
Earlier this year, Marine Atlantic opened new ticket booths at the facility, moving infrastructure to a different location to make additional space for vehicles.
Marine Atlantic plans to continue to upgrade its facilities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Mercer confirmed the MV Atlantic Vision and MV Leif Ericson vessels will be part of the company’s fleet-renewal discussions with the federal government, with a decision to be made in the years ahead as to whether those will be replaced.