For the good of the province

Congratulations are oddly in order for David Hahn.

I say oddly because it’s extremely rare to see an overpaid executive of a crown corporation fall on his sword like Hahn did as he quit BC Ferries to save the corporation upwards of $1 million per year.

Hahn had previously announced that among his attempts to cut costs at BC Ferries that he would recommend that the province cut several hundred sailings annually. He quickly came under criticism for his huge compensation package relative to the company’s $11 million deficit.

What’s most interesting though is that Hahn decided to just leave BC Ferries, rather than offer to take a pay cut.

It makes me wonder what else is out there for him?

Regardless, his decision to take BC Ferries away from being an infrastructure extension of the highway system, toward some weird luxury tourist service was short-sighted and a complete misreading of the market for the service. The accompanying absurd rate increases only exacerbated the issue for those who rely on the service to actually serve them.

Hopefully BC Ferries can bring on a new CEO that has some appreciation for the ferry system’s place in BC as a service, not a profit venture. Although until the BC Government is willing to bring the corporation entirely back under provincial jurisdiction, I’m sceptical of its chances for success.