Photo: Myrna Wiebe

East Shore residents gathered on March. 16 to discuss the planned demonstrations

East Shore residents have planned a protest in Nelson and Creston on March 20 to help draw attention to the ongoing ferry strike that has affected their community for over four months.

Organizers say that there are more to come, as they plan to execute various protests to get the word out and increase awareness of their situation.

"We want to draw more attention to it, to get more people writing letters of support," she said. "Everyone we see tells us how supportive they are the East Shore," said organizer Megan Rokeby, adding that they intend to grow the demonstration into weekly protests.

Rokeby expressed that she believes the negotiations between the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) and Western Pacific Marine have “completely collapsed.”

"It's been overwhelmingly frustrating," she said.

She also noted that the goal of the protests is to push to make inland ferry services essential to avoid future transport.

"When the ferry is canceled, it's a guarantee someone has been pushed to the point of tears. There's been people missing surgeries because essential sailings have been canceled," she said, adding that people have opted to sleep in their cars because they can't afford to stay overnight in Nelson.

"The mental stress of it is the worst part of it," she said. "Our community needs to keep having our voice be heard."

The protest will be held at Nelson City Hall located at 101-310 Ward Street on Wednesday, March 18 with future protests planned for every Wednesday in Nelson, while the protests date and times for Creston are still pending.

Rokeby said that she encourages people to reach out to the Our Ferry Matters Facebook group if they are interested in being involved or to learn more about how community members have been impacted.