BC Ferries and SeaBus get $5.6 million security upgrade from Ottawa

The federal government has committed $5.6 million to improve security on B.C.'s sprawling coastal ferry system and Vancouver's SeaBus commuter ferry service.

Ferry terminals in Nanaimo, Victoria and West Vancouver will get the lion's share of the money, with the rest going to the Coast Mountain Bus Co., which runs the Seabus, to upgrade the terminals in downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver.

North Vancouver Conservative MP Andrew Saxton said Tuesday the money will cover such things as added surveillance equipment, fencing, lighting, communications gear and training, as part of the government's nation-wide five-year, $115-million marine security contribution program.

Last month, Ottawa gave $393,000 to increase security on the ferry run between Halifax and Dartmouth.

In November, B.C. Ferries announced it was adding patrols of bomb-sniffing dogs at its terminals after a number of bomb threats disrupted service in recent years.