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Islanders to get ferry discount in February

By Alex Rinfret--The provincial government's seat sale on ferry fares will be extended for an extra month for the Skidegate-Prince Rupert route only, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced Tuesday.The 33 percent reduction on ferry rates, announced last month by Premier Gordon Campbell, goes into effect from Dec. 1 until the end of January. But because ferry service between the mainland and Haida Gwaii is suspended for all of January, the government has decided to give islanders an additional month of reduced fares."We are going to extend it right through to the end of February on that run," Mr. Falcon told the Observer Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview from Victoria. "We don't want to penalize people," the minister said.January sailings have been cancelled so that the Skidegate dock can be renovated in anticipation of the arrival of the new Northern Expedition ferry this spring. BC Ferries plans to transport freight by barge and passengers by plane during that month.The provincial government is spending $20-million on the two-month fare reduction, part of a 10-point plan to respond to global economic turmoil.