A new layer of uncertainty has been added to BC Ferries’ deal with China, after an angry federal transport minister lashed out at the ferry corporation and the B.C. government over the shipbuilding contract.
Chrystia Freeland said she feels “great consternation and disappointment” that BC Ferries selected state-owned Chinese shipyard CMI Weihai to build its four major new vessels, at a time when China is levelling unfair tariffs against Canada and the federal government is trying to promote the national shipbuilding sector.
“I am dismayed that BC Ferries would select a Chinese state-owned shipyard to build new ferries in the current geopolitical context, and 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,” Freeland wrote in a letter to B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth.
She said none of the $37.8 million annual subsidies from Ottawa, $308 million post-COVID funding or loans from the Canada Infrastructure Bank are allowed to go to the Chinese deal.
The B.C. government at first tried to hide the letter, perhaps to avoid the public embarrassment of being castigated by Ottawa for its failure to intervene in the BC Ferries deal. But it was forced to release it 24 hours later.
Freeland demanded to know how BC Ferries would address cybersecurity concerns from China. The federal government in 2022 blocked Chinese company Huawei’s telecommunications equipment, saying it posed an undue national security risk.
Freeland also demanded to know if BC Ferries and the B.C. government had done a national security assessment before signing the deal with China this month.
BC Ferries defended its decision, saying Canadian companies have contracted 100 vessels from Chinese shipyards over the last decade.
“Security is a top priority,” the company said in a statement.
“That's why we’ve been in touch with Transport Canada — since before the contract was signed — and Public Safety Canada — since late May — and will continue working with them to get their advice on issues of safety and security throughout the project.
“Also, sensitive systems will be sourced separately and independently certified before the vessels enter service. BC Ferries intends that all of our IT networks will be procured from within Canada and installed on the ship by BC Ferries own personnel.”
The federal Opposition Conservatives criticized Ottawa for fobbing off national security considerations onto provincial companies.
“Why is Chrystia Freeland looking to B.C. to provide national security guarantees to the federal government?” North Island-Powell River Conservative MP Aaron Gunn posted on social media.
“If Ottawa has concerns, would it not be their jurisdiction/responsibility to investigate and, if necessary, block the deal?”
BC Ferries has said no Canadian shipyards bid on the contract. Canadian shipyards have said they can’t compete with countries with human rights concerns and forced labour that can undercut costs.
Organized labour groups have said B.C. and Ottawa should use the billions of dollars in work BC Ferries intends to undertake to revitalize a national shipbuilding industry that grows the economy and creates jobs.
“Given the value of the contract and the level of taxpayer funding that has been provided to support BC Ferries’ operations, I am surprised that BC Ferries does not appear to have been mandated to require an appropriate level of Canadian content in the procurement or the involvement of the Canadian marine industry,” wrote Freeland.
The federal criticism undercuts Premier David Eby’s defence of the deal, which amounted mainly to saying ferry customers care more about cheap, fast ships than they do about where they are built.
Although he has in the past expressed concerns about China’s role in election interference, money laundering, fentanyl trafficking, human rights abuses, cybersecurity and organized crime, the premier has said little about those worries as they pertain to China’s construction of the West Coast ferry fleet.
Instead, Eby said he’s written to Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss ways to better procure future BC Ferries ships.
But given the angry response from the Carney government over how the Eby government has already allowed the work to go to a hostile foreign country, it may not be a very warm conversation.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for The Orca/BIV. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
[email protected]
🚨New newsletter alert! Stay ahead of the curve in B.C. politics. Get expert political analysis delivered straight to your inbox, plus inside scoops and other stories from across the province. Sign up here for the Capital & Coast newsletter
