More | Report Post

Reinstating B.C. Ferries as a Crown corporation would open
the door to political interference and is not required for
government to keep a lid on fares, company president David
Hahn said Tuesday as he announced he is to step down.

Hahn, 60, said he will leave at the end of December, 15
months before his contract expires. He has been in the job
eight years.

His departure is part of cost-cutting package to generate
$11 million this fiscal year after passenger numbers
slipped to their lowest level in two decades. Losses this
year could hit $20 million.

Consumers will likely not notice impacts other than a plan
to cut up to 400 round-trip sailings on major routes, Hahn
said. A wage and salary freeze, and hiring ban on non-
essential positions, are also planned.

B.C. Ferries' outspoken president and chief executive was a
New York aviation executive when hired to run the ferry
service as an independent company under a user-pay system.

Hahn's departure will save salary costs. His compensation
package is $1.2 million annually and he is not receiving
severance. His $315,000 per year pension will be reduced
because of the early departure.

Hahn has been a focus of controversy on issues such as his
lucrative compensation package, and the decision to have
new ferries built in Germany. "I made sure that I was the
lightning rod when I started. There was no face of B.C.
Ferries that somebody could look to hold accountable for
issues when I got here."

His departure may soften some of the debate but not
eliminate it, he said. "The real issue is fundamental — the
policy for the last nine years in legislation is user pay."
The new government policy will not be known until after the
Ferries Commissioner's review, now underway, comes out in
early 2012, he said.

Hahn urges maintaining B.C. Ferries existing corporate
structure, saying it should not return to being a Crown
corporation "because you get too much political nonsense
and influence."

"The only thing I would hate to see happen out of this is
to go back to that political interference agenda because it
would just ruin it."

When Hahn took the job, some politicians were "pretty
aggressive," he said. Some would call to say what they
wanted him to do. "I would say, 'I'll do the opposite' just
to make a point."

If it was turned into a Crown operation, "then you could
have ministers calling up and saying, 'Give this to my
friend or buddy.' Or you could have cockeyed contracts for
service, mechanical breakdowns — pick whatever you want."

Hahn said most of his strategic initiatives were completed
when he decided to leave. "It's my choice to retire and it
is on my terms that I'm leaving. I believe it to be in the
best interests of the organization, otherwise I would have
never considered it."

Employees have done a "great job" in transforming B.C.
Ferries, said Hahn. High points include seven new vessels
and seeing the service operate like a business rather than
a bureaucracy.

B.C. Ferries' chairman Donald Hayes praised Hahn as
a "unique leader with unsurpassed vision, dedication and
commitment." The company has been "fundamentally
transformed, resulting in improvements in all areas of the
company's business," Hayes said.

The board expects to announce a new CEO after its November
meeting, Hayes said. The new chief's salary will be limited
by provincial legislation brought in last year.

As for a possible replacement for Hahn, B.C. Ferries'
executive team consists of Mike Corrigan, chief operating
officer, Rob Clarke, chief financial officer, and Glen
Schwartz, human resources and corporate development.

Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Transportation, said Hahn
has "done a good job as the CEO of B.C. Ferries. He has
delivered on what the government has asked him to do."

NDP ferries critic Gary Coons said B.C. Ferries is being
run like a cruise ship experience rather than a highway.
The minister should "take a leadership role to turn Ferries
around."

Richard Goode, B.C. Ferries and Marine Workers Union
president, said with the ferry review and a provincial
election next year, a new CEO can change the direction and
deal with fiscal matters. He is worried that the salary and
hiring freeze and fewer sailings will hurt union members.

Posts on this thread, including this one