B.C. Ferries - Mistake - Bomb Threat - Mistake - And Correction

B.C. Ferries – Mistake – Bomb Threat – Mistake – And Correction The worst thing about making a mistake on important information is that readers have a right not to be misled. That is primary. And others have the right not to be misreported. The error in the ferry story is, of course, based on information I received that is confidential and which came from sources I depended upon to be solid. I had no reason to believe the information was not solid. You say – and rightly – but shouldn’t you have gone another set of steps to make sure that it was beyond question. The answer is yes. The fault is mine, completely. What was wrong with the story? To begin, there was a bomb threat at B.C. Ferries, as I reported. It was reported by RCMP, as I said. It was not to particular vessels, but to a terminal or terminals, as I reported. The bomb threat was as I reported a Code G threat, not a Code F threat. BUT… a Code G threat is a suspected bomb only and a Code F threat is a “hands on problem”, so to speak. My information was the opposite - that the threat received and reported was the truly dangerous threat. In addition, Ann Carpenter, communications Manager, Inter-Island Services (n) Northern Services at B.C. Ferries responded by saying the following: “I didn’t attend that meeting…. I did not make the comments you’ve attributed to me from the meeting”. I apologize for any error involving Ms. Carpenter and any embarrassment to her caused by material contained in my statement. And because of the my error in believing the bomb threat was of “serious” nature, I concluded that senior officers of B.C. Ferries and David Hahn had neglected action that should have been taken. I apologize for that error and for any embarrassment to them caused by it. There are many, many things I could say about dealing with B.C. Ferries and getting information about B.C. Ferries operation, and getting it from “officials” that I may write about at another time. But I will not write about those things here because it might be seen as an attempt to excuse myself for the error in the ferry story: “Bomb Threat, Danger, and Corporate Chaos at B.C. Ferries”. I do not in any way wish to place blame on anyone else but myself for the errors in the story, and so I will say nothing else but that the story has errors of fact; errors which lead to incorrect conclusions. The errors are my errors; I am responsible for them; and I apologize for making them … to everyone who has read the story, to everyone at B.C. Ferries. (I will add that the likelihood of error appearing in future is very, very slight after this mistake.)