Like many shops on Prince Edward Island, Galla Designs relies heavily on tourists to make ends meet. “It is hugely important…. our big season is mainly tourists,” says owner Trish Carter.

Galla Designs is in Wood Islands, just a few kilometers down the Trans-Canada Highway from the Northumberland Ferries terminal where boats connect P.E.I. to Nova Scotia. The shop features more than 80 Island artisans, but it is also the Belle River Post Office and a place where locals can pick up a few stray groceries if they need them. Still, the boost provided by ferry traffic is what keeps the business going.

Evidence for the importance of the service to local business is not just anecdotal. A report from the Eastern P.E.I. Chamber of Commerce forecast a busy ferry service could bring in $200 million in tourism revenue by 2030. The report also estimated a single transport truck travelling from eastern P.E.I. to Halifax via ferry can save $30,000 to $40,000 in operating costs per year as compared to driving across Confederation Bridge, through New Brunswick and on to Halifax.

“I didn’t realize fully how important it was until we had no ferry, and it was dead. Absolutely dead,” says Carter.

She’s talking about the fall of 2024. In September of that year, MV Confederation slammed into the dock, punching a hole in the bow. With the second boat on the route already tied up for the season, the result was 10 weeks without any ferry service at all. It was the nadir of a bad year, a year that came on the tail of a string of bad news.

The 2020s had started with some promise. The 2019 federal budget included money for a new ship to replace MV Holiday Island, which had been in service since 1971.

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