Having family roots from the Quinan/Belleville area, it has been important to me to return to the Yarmouth area throughout the years. As a child I travelled from Boston to Yarmouth via eastern steamship lines, Bar Harbor to Yarmouth via the Bluenose, Portland to Yarmouth via the Scotia Prince and the Cat-- and now --via the Princess of Acadia--St John to Digby. All trips are memorable for different reasons. As I age, I would like to spend more time in Nova Scotia in the land of my ancestors, but due to time constraints, weather and scheduling of the Princess of Acadia, I am not able to do so. Travel from Cape Cod, via auto, no matter the route, involves 2 day travel in both directions ( total 4 days). With a couple more days in NS, I could spend more money and perhaps help the local economy!! In my mind, the Scotia Prince allowed for a mini vacation if only overnight for some folks, a method of transportation for others who wished to experience Nova Scotia and other areas beyond. The Cat, I think was a water taxi ,allowing for passengers to hit the ground in Yarmouth and to quickly move on to other areas. I feel that an overnight ferry with proper scheduling and accommodations, with or without one's own transportation, would once again highlight the town of Yarmouth, not only the economy, but also its history. My family has most recently used the air line from Portland to Yarmouth--a very positive experience--and quick!! Both my husband and I look forward to the possibility of another ferry between Yarmouth and New England--good luck!

I grew up in Yarmouth, familiar by family and occupation with the vital need for a ferry link between New England and Yarmouth. Today, I live and work in the Ottawa area and make several trip back to Yarmouth each year. It has become quite distrubing, to say the least, to see the gradual decline of a once proud and eclectic tourist industry as it falls into economic despair. I send much of my time now working with many business and government people who, at one time or other, have told me about their visits to the Maritimes. Without exception, they speak glowingly about the Province of Nova Scotia and its people. They also tell me about the route they take there and back. The general route is down through New Brunswick thru the Wentworth Valley to Halifax and then to Cape Breton for a tour. The way back has been through Yarmouth via ferry to Portland or Bar Harbour. They choose this return route primarily as an opportunity to tour both the Maritimes and New England. Multiply each trip by hundreds of travellers from "the rest of Canada" who will now give second thoughts about venturing south of Peggy's Cove on their summer trip east, and you begin to see the ecomomic havoc that the loss of the ferry servive has on the southern half of Nova Scotia. Someone in government - Federal or Provincial or both - needs to get past the politics of this and, like true Statesmen and Stateswomen, make the effort to structure a ferry service that will both serve the travelling and commercial need and be a viable investment in regional economic development. It may come at a cost to the taxpayer..but I suspect the taxpayers - collectively - will be quite willing to foot the bill if it means a return to prosperity.

I live in Nova Scotia but I am from Massachusetts. Many of my friends and relatives have visited me in the past via the ferry and have stayed in local hotels etc. The cost to fly is too pricey and the drive is too long. The ferry was a perfect alternative. Losing that connection to New England does not seem logical or economical since I know there are more Nova Scotians than myself with roots in Boston, Portland and other New England locations.

My great-grandmother was from Nova Scotia, and every year since i was born my whole family and I (40 people) would go up and spend the summer in shag harbour. We have lots of family up there and enjoy spending time with them. When they cancelled the ferry it has made it very difficult for us all to go up, becasue we have to travel the 16hrs from Boston to Shag Harbour.And those of us that cant get a week off for our annual family reunion they just dont go. i dont understand how difficult a descion this is, there should be no question on getting the ferry back.

It is obvious that the ferry was beneficial for leisure travel, but there is another aspect that most people don't think about. As a Dalhousie student from Maine, the ferry would have been the perfect solution for travel. Now we are forced to travel up nearly the whole length of N.S. across N.B. and back down to southern Maine. This 10-hour trip could be significantly shortened, meaning we would be able to return home more often and family could actually come to visit. Understandably, this isn't the situation for everyone, but it is another group of people that the ferry would greatly impact in a positive way.

The end of a ferry to new England signals the end of my plans to retire on the south shore. Since the ferry stopped business has decreased, public transportation is non existent,and I pity anyone who bought property there before the end of the ferry, I feel ferry service is critical for the survival of the south shore for tourism, for our history of family ties with the US many who return year after year, and also for our exports to have a quick practical route for products. I intend to vote for the next party who will bring back the ferry. Ginny Schultz

As a former Nova Scotian, living in Connecticut, my family and I had been taking the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth every summer from 1968 until it stopped operating. Our children grew up making the trip to my homeland and now our grandchildren are doing the same. Not having the ferry has made the trip that much more difficult and less pleasurable for us not to mention the additional time and expense of getting there. My husband and I have retired to North Carolina and not having the ferry means an even longer drive each summer. Because of my emotional connection to the province we will continue to return "home" every summer but we have friends who would not even consider visiting Nova Scotia without a ferry service.

My husband comes from a large family in the Wedgeport area and enjoyed summer visits as a child. We love the area, so we decided to purchase a summer home, which would eventually be used as a retirement home. We enjoyed bringing family and friends over from the U.S. to vacation at our home and it was an easy trip over on the ferry from Portland. Without a ferry, we are forced to drive to New Brunswick and cross over -- a two day trip each way. Friends and family no longer join us and we only make one trip a year now. It was a sad and difficult decision we were forced to make to put our home up for sale last fall. Of course with limited tourists and a depressed economy in the Yarmouth area, we haven't had much interest in our home. We just can't figure out what the residents of your area did to deserve the treatment they are receiving from the government.

As I a writing this I am thinking of all the people this has affected. Every business owner in Yarmouth and around Nova Scotia. Not only that but everyone who is from there & live elsewhere & those who visit on a yearly basis. I for one was born & raised in Yarmouth, however due to my marriage 30 plus years ago I live in the states. I live in the south so it is a very long trip when going home. I use to go almost every year bringing my daughters & their families. Since the boat is now a memory I have only been back once. It is too far of a drive to have to go all the way to St John to catch the ferry across to Digby. I now need an extra 2 days just to make the trip. As far as the cost, it costs as much to drive around as it would to pay to go on the ferry from Yarmouth. Leaving me & others extra time to spend in & around the province. So I don't think the cost will stop people from taking the boat across. It cost as much on the St John Ferry, I know I am not alone in my thinking, there are lots of people who feel the same way. Thanks for listening & I hope for a boat in Yarmouth in the near future.

As International Real Estate Developers and professional Hotel Managers we saw Southwest Nova as an opportunity to relocate and create a one of a kind Inn Complex providing a variety of services to not only the tourism sector but the local business class traveler. This decision involved a considerable financial investment and change in lifestyle which involved 10 years of applications towards Canadian Citizenship. We as US Investors made decisions and invested our life's savings to create this infrastructure. Today, 14 years later and now in our early 50's, we are faced with the fact that our investment in this country was a bad decision. The Provincial Government basically tore up the road to our home and business, without any notice, and left us with the property and no real access. The message to other International Investors, "Stay away they don't get it, they will take all you have to offer and leave you in the cold." The NDP Government needs to change its position and correct their wrong doings. Short Sighted is the understatement!

I worked in tourism as a guide in the 80's in Annapolis Royal area, and the amount of tour buses and people on the streets in the summer months has clearly declined. The cessation of the ferries from US to Nova Scotia MUST be reversed. That act, coupled with airfare to Nova Scotia being the highest I have ever seen it last summer in the 30 years I've traveled from NYC area to NS in the summer months makes it extremely difficult to market this province as an affordable summer destination to tourists, on whom many, many people rely on for a livelihood. I want to take them, I don't want to have to pay $500 or more for a flight. Plus $30 per suitcase. HELP tourism in Nova Scotia, bring back the CAT and the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth. Please do it for this summer!

As with every B&B and Inn on the south shore... we in Lunenburg have experienced a notable decline in our US visitation, and a drop in sales of between 15 to 20%. Our staffing went from 3 to 1. We have also had communication with a few groups who were planning a visit to NS but decided when the ferry was discontinued, not to come. As a result of loss of revenue, we also had to make cuts in a number of areas, including labour and the purchase of local goods and services. It should also be noted that raising the Hst to 15%, and overall the economy has taken a dive all over the world, but, for us, the biggest singular contribution to our sales drop, is the cancellation of the ferry service to Yarmouth. This NDP provincial government has decided that it was not sustainable to subsidize between 5 and 6 million dollars for a ferry service. Yet has subsidized every industry, but it's biggest industry... the tourist industry. A billion dollar industry. How many jobs, and services suffered because of this decision? Sad to say, and I quote the Chronicle Herald, March 20/12... "Toby Koffman, spokesman for the Rural Development and Tourism Department, said in February that stripping the subsidy was the right move and one the government "won't" backtrack on. Continueing to subsidize the (ferry) would simply put off the inevitable and taken money away from creating good jobs and growing the economy" This seems to be written in stone for the NDP provincial government. I ask Mr. Toby Koffman, and the NDP provincial government... where did you "create" jobs, and grow the economy since sinking the ferry service. I see potential job creation through Irving and the Conservative federal government, but that's about it. Thank God, we get to vote our governments in or out. Time to rethink subsidizing the NDP provincial government, and vote in a government that has foresight and vision. As Mr Stackhouse said.... A ferry service between New England/Maine and Southwest Nova Scotia provides vital transportation access to our region of the province and is a key ingredient to a sustainable tourism industry (let's not forget the Trucking Industry too). It is time for our provincial government's to start looking at this as an investment in the economy of a Nova Scotia and a sector that is made up of a large number of the small businesses that contribute to the economy.

My family lives in Meteghan and the surrounding areas. Without the ferry from Maine to Yarmouth it is a very long trip to visit my Mom and Dad. They are no longer able to travel as they live in a residential care facility. We are unable to make as many trips to visit because of the very limited schedule out of St John. Life would be so much better for everyone if the Ferry came back. The businesses in Yarmouth are suffering. So is my family

Yarmouth is the "Ground Zero" of this ferry loss mess. The loss of this international link has economically damaged this beautiful, scenic province beyond a scope that was ever imaginable. Toss in the global economic melt down, and it turns into an even bigger mess to climb out of. I am sure, the actions of the present Provincial Government, must confuse the majority of voters across this entire Province. There is zero NDP representation in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. I know a great way to try and get some here.....but time is running out for someone......

Nearly ten years ago, I bought and renovated a lovely property in Shelburne which we would visit 2-4 times each year, to work on our home and enjoy the beauty of Nova Scotia. Since the tragic termination of the Maine to NS ferry subsidy and service, we have visited only once! The loss of that service has ruined the plans we had for our investment. We have now offered up our vacation home for seasonal renters but are not optimistic about the prospects. None of our friends or family are willing to consider a visit given the new challenges of getting to Nova Scotia. We will likely resort to selling the property because it is not feasible to visit regularly as we once enjoyed, and it is not feasible as a rental business venture because vacationers are not willing to spend half of their week long vacation in travel time. The loss of the ferry has had a major and devastating financial impact on Nova Scotia - the effects can be seen and heard throughout the Province. What a terrible shame that the government seems unable or unwilling to restore a viable ferry service. Amie Hannon

I have not been directly affected. However, I was in Ireland for the Solheim Cup in September, and was talking to 4 women from the US. I said I was from Nova Scotia, and they happily said they had been, what a wonderful place, and that they had come on the ferry to Yarmouth and travelled around the province, and they planned to return. I told them the ferry was no more, without expressing an opinion. Their immediate response was that that was terrible; people just won't come. I agree; that ferry served the entire province. PS, why does Port HAwkesbury get $24,000,000 to maybe save a paper mill, and Yarmouth and the rest of Nova Sotia get nothing?

I'm a frequent traveller to Nova Scotia who originally discovered the province by riding the "old and slow" ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth back in the early 90s. Later, we traveled between the US and NS via the late lamented Scotia Prince, forced out of business by a bad combination of "toxic" mold and toxic political and economic ambitions on the part of the owners of the Cat. The Cat was the deathknell for relatively inexpensive travel between the US and Nova Scotia - the schedule was not conducive to attracting tourism, it didn't support business at all, and it was expensive. I have talked to innumerable folks in the US who don't actually know that they can visit Nova Scotia by driving here - they thought that the only way to see and enjoy what the province has to offer is by taking a cruise or an expensive air flight. Without that dotted line on the maps across the Gulf of Maine connecting the US and the province, I'm sure there are lots of folks who don't know that they can "get there from here." I'm all for bringing back an overnight ferry that would carry both goods and people back and forth at a reasonable cost. We would certainly use it from time to time in lieu of the long dawn drive across New Brunswick!

The single most significant economic impact to reverse the decline of tourism in South West Nova Scotia and the Province of Nova Scotia would be the re-instatement of the ferry service between Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada and Portland, Maine, USA.

I was hoping to open an Irish Pub in Yarmouth but without a ferry I would be filing for bankruptcy within a year. Very sad...

Since the cancellation of the CAT ferry we have experienced a notable decline in our US visitation. When the ferry was operating almost 80% of our visitors were from the USA. In the last two seasons we have seen that number drop to about 65-70%, not taking into account that our overall visitation has dropped as well. We have also had communication with a few groups who were planning a visit to NS but decided when the ferry was discontinued not to come. As a result of the declines we have experienced and the resulting loss of revenue we have had to make cuts in a number of areas, including labour and the purchase of local goods and services. A seasonal ferry service between New England and Southwest Nova Scotia provides vital transportation access to our region of the province and is a key ingredient to a sustainable tourism industry. It is time for our provincial government to start looking at this as an investment in the economy of a Nova Scotia and a sector that is made up of a large number of the small businesses that contribute to the economy.