Wolfe Islander III and Wolfe Islander IV. Photo via Owen Fullerton/LJI.
Editor’s note: According to an update, the MTO has clarified that there are no plans to operate two ferries simultaneously. The current 80-minute roundtrip schedule will improve once the supporting shore-based infrastructure is in place, according to the MTO.
Community members who live on Wolfe Island presented a petition to the Ontario Legislative Assembly last week over the schedule and service available since the new Wolfe Islander IV ferry went into service in mid-August.
The petition states that residents on the island have been promised the new, larger ferry would make trips to and from Wolfe Island easier and more convenient, but so far it’s been anything but.
Petitioners say they still need to get to Kingston on a regular basis, and that has been made harder since the new ferry began operating.
“Wolfe Islander III carries 55 vehicles in 30 minutes, and the Wolfe Islander IV carries 75 vehicles in 40 minutes, a net 2.2 per cent increase,” the petition reads.
“The Wolfe Islander III left Wolfe Island and Kingston 19 times a day. The Wolfe Islander IV leaves Wolfe Island and Kingston 16 times a day… We have sacrificed a slight volume increase during peak times for a 33 per cent worse schedule. This is not at all fair to high school students, workers, and commuters, all of whom must commute to Kingston daily.”
Wolfe Islander IV is on an 80 minute round trip schedule, where the Wolfe Islander III was a 60 minute round trip.
The petitioners say, however, that the issues presented by the new ferry schedule go beyond simply convenience, and safety concerns are paramount for some who live on the island.
Virginia Lewis, a Wolfe Island resident who has been circulating the petition, said residents who put it together feel like their voices weren’t being heard by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and that this was the best way to get their concerns out there. She says the primary concern isn’t the general inconvenience caused by the ferry’s new, sparser schedule, but the fact that Frontenac County’s paramedic response plan is based upon the premise of Wolfe Island having dual ferry service.
“We all have been feeling very stressed out and concerned with the ferry the last few years specifically, but certainly this summer really brought it to kind of a point of serious concern,” Lewis said.
“The really scary thing is, is that someone’s going to die… these things can be fixed, and they were supposed to be fixed years ago.”
With no ambulance or hospital on the Island itself, when an ambulance is needed, it must take the ferry to and then back from Wolfe Island. Residents who have brought forward the petition say the current 80 minute round trip schedule further delays response time, putting people’s lives in danger.
Lewis says she’s encountered the issue personally with her son who has asthma, opting to drive him to the ferry and on to KGH herself in the middle of the night for fear of delays with an ambulance en route.
The Wolfe Islander IV finally started service on August 17, 2024, and carries 75 vehicles as opposed to the capacity of 55 on Wolfe Islander III.
A 2011 study from the MTO reported a need for dual ferry service, especially during peak times.
In a statement, the MTO said that is still a priority, but it can’t be implemented yet.
“The current 80-minute round trip schedule is an interim measure while construction of supporting shore infrastructure continues. Completing this work is a priority for the ministry,” the statement reads.
“Once the shore-based infrastructure on both the island and mainland is completed, we will be able to offer more frequent service — helping islanders and tourists get to their destinations faster.”
But Lewis says especially after seeing the official launch of service date for the Wolfe Islander IV become a moving target, she and other residents aren’t holding their breath. There’s even talk of a bridge connecting the island to Kingston, but she says that feels like a pipe dream at this point.
“By 2015, we needed dual ferries for our peak times because of the way that we’ve grown in such a short period of time, now we only have one ferry on a worse schedule and we’re not having dual ferries,” Lewis said.
“If we can’t even get one ferry to run regularly so that we can have access to health care and education and, like, connect us with the mainland, then I don’t see how, a bridge, they’re going to do that.”
Ultimately the petition calls for both dual ferry service to officially begin for the island and for paramedic services to be restored.
Owen Fullerton is a Kingston-based reporter with the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI). The LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
