The House of Commons transport committee agreed on Monday to launch a study into the $1 billion loan BC Ferries received from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to finance the purchase of four new electric-diesel ships from a Chinese shipbuilder.
“Outsourcing Canadian jobs is always wrong, and it’s even worse when we have these unjustified steel and aluminum tariffs,” Conservative MP Dan Albas said, who represents the riding of Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna.
BC Ferries opened bidding for its major vessel replacement project to pre-qualified shipyards last September, and in June, announced it had chosen China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai) following a due diligence process.
That decision has landed in the choppy waters of a global trade war and a surging “buy Canadian” movement that was not on the radar last fall.
BC Ferries was then awarded a $1 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to purchase the ships, which then led Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland to send a letter to B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth to check that “with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition” of the Chinese-made ferries.
“The Liberal Infrastructure Bank gave out their largest investment to date, $1 billion of taxpayer-funded loans, not for building Canadian ships to power our Canadian economy, but to build up the Chinese economy, Chinese workers, and to power their own economy,” Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, who represents Haldimand—Norfolk, said.
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“Canadians want to know why has taxpayer-funded Liberal bank not ensured that its loans are not being used to fund industries in foreign nations,” she added.
“The question also arises, how did the Minister of Infrastructure and this Liberal government allow this to happen? This is not what Canadians expect.”
B.C. Premier David Eby said he learned about the loan when it was reported in the media.
“What I will say is, Atlantic Canada has their ferries paid for, in fact, to the exact same Chinese shipyard that the BC Ferries’ ferries are going to be built at, had their ferries paid for in its entirety,” he said.
“Whereas the West Coast only qualifies for a loan. So I would encourage the federal committee to have a look at the differential treatment of the coasts in terms of the ferry supports.”
There were questions raised about why there wasn’t a Canadian company that bid on the deal, including B.C.’s Seaspan, but senior vice-president of strategy, business development and communications Dave Hargreaves told Global News that’s in part because while it has the capability, it doesn’t currently have the capacity.
The company is essentially fully booked through the end of the decade, building Coast Guard and Canadian Navy ships.
The committee will call Freeland, Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson and the CEOs of BC Ferries and the Canada Infrastructure Bank to testify.
These hearings are to be scheduled within the next 30 days.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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