With just two weeks to go before the dreaded Oct. 31 deadline for the Princess of Acadia, the best Mark MacDonald and the company can do is issue a statement claiming to be "conscious of the stress our business decision on June 30 has caused for our workers, our customers and the communities we serve."

Often in this area we are hesitant to criticize Bay Ferries because of what they mean to the community. Here in Yarmouth we depend on them not only for spillover traffic from Digby but also, of course, for The Cat.

But the time has come to say enough is enough.

For while MacDonald and Bay Ferries may be conscious of what they're doing, that is little solace for the more than 100 workers worrying if they will have a paycheck heading into a time when thoughts of heating homes and Christmas are close at hand.

It also does little for the many people in the area concerned about how they will get their fish and lobster to the lucrative New England markets without breaking the bank.

While we sympathize with the difficult position in which Bay Ferries finds itself, it is not at all unreasonable to expect them to keep the many interested parties up to speed on what's happening.

After all the support our community and others have given them, it's the least they could do.