Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises general manager Eric Ferguson stands next to the Island Belle, which remains trapped on the wrong side of the LaSalle Causeway two months after its bridge was damaged. Ferguson is skeptical the department responsible for the causeway will offer any compensation to cruise ship businesses. The MP for Kingston and the Islands is calling on his own government to provide compensation to local businesses that have lost money due to the damaged LaSalle Causeway.
He said both PSPC and the office of its minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, have made it clear there's "no mechanism" within the department to cover the costs of cruise cancellations and other damages. "The priority right now is to demolish the causeway rapidly and find a temporary solution," he wrote. Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises was fortunate enough to have one boat on the right side of the bridge before the damage occurred. It also managed to free another by squeezing it beneath a different part of the causeway.
Gerretsen said he's written a letter to Duclos and PSPC, urging them to find a way to support companies that are suffering.