Dan Albas is the Conservative Party MP for the riding of Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna.
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If you’ve been following both provincial and national headlines recently, you may have heard about a controversial decision by BC Ferries to purchase four new vessels from China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards. This shipyard is state-owned by the Chinese Communist government and located in Weihai, within China’s Shandong province.
BC Ferries has defended the decision, stating that no Canadian shipyards submitted bids for the project. The company further claimed that going with the Chinese shipyard would save approximately $1 billion compared to domestic alternatives. Seaspan, who had initialled shown interest in seeing these vessels constructed in BC, gave the following reason why they and other Canadian Shipyards did not bid:
“Canadian shipyards and their supply chains cannot compete with low wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards than Canada and B.C. The most significant difference is that in B.C., the wages that we pay our skilled trades workforce are substantially higher than in those other countries.”
Curiously, BC Ferries has refused to publicly release the full cost of the ferries—raising questions around transparency and public accountability. This isn't just a provincial matter: BC Ferries receives nearly $38 million annually in federal operating subsidies from Transport Canada, so it’s only fair to ask how taxpayers' dollars are being managed.
As the federal Transportation Critic, I asked Minister Chrystia Freeland to weigh in on this deal. To my surprise, she expressed strong alignment with my concerns. Her answer, unusually detailed for a House of Commons exchange, stated:
“I share the concern and anger of other members of this House about the purchase of Chinese ferries. I have written to the Province of B.C. to make clear that the federal government's support for BC Ferries, which is explicitly for operating support, must not be used for anything other than the operation of ferries. We owe it to the people of B.C. to support the operation of their ferries. We also owe it to the people of Canada to support Canadian shipbuilding, Canadian steel and Canadian workers.”
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Although this was the first time, we learned such a letter had been sent to the B.C. NDP government, it quickly became the focus of intense media interest as journalists pressed for the letter’s release.
Although the NDP government initially refused to release the letter, late on a Friday afternoon in June, it was leaked to journalists. The letter confirmed that Minister Freeland raised multiple concerns and explicitly demanded:
“I ask that you verify and confirm with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition of these new ferries.”
The B.C. NDP was not thrilled. Premier David Eby went so far as to suggest that Minister Freeland should “mind her own business.”
Then came a shocking development: Despite Minister Freeland’s very clear position that no federal dollars should be used for the purchase, it was revealed that the entire $1 billion ferry acquisition is being financed by the federally created Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB).
When the CIB was launched, it was billed as a vehicle to attract investment of foreign dollars into the Canadian economy. Yet in this case, it appears to be facilitating Canadian taxpayer loans to fund shipbuilding in China—creating subsidized jobs abroad while our own shipyards are shut out.
Since this revelation, we’ve heard nothing from either Prime Minister Mark Carney or Minister Freeland about how they intend to square their hardline stance with this reality.
So I ask: Is this acceptable leadership from your Prime Minister and federal government?
As always, I welcome your thoughts. You can reach me at [email protected] or toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.
