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In its first two months, the Nova Star car ferry blew through a $21.5 million government loan that was supposed to last seven years — and then tore through another $7.5 million in provincial money by season’s end.

In fact for 2014, it cost Nova Scotia taxpayers $482 for every one of the 59,018 passengers who took the 10-hour ferry between Yarmouth, N.S., and Portland, Maine; two places that, incidentally, are 12.5 hours apart by road.

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On Wednesday, in front of a cheering crowd in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia’s tourism minister announced yet another $13 million in government money for the vessel that critics say is set to join the Bluenose II in the annals of Nova Scotia boat boondoggles.

The boat is indeed bringing in tourists, but “at $13 million, that’s a $1,300 subsidy per hotel room night,” said retired politician and prominent Nova Star critic Bill Black.

“Or if you had twice as much traffic it’s $650 a night, which is still ridiculous.”