In this province, we have the labour pool, natural resources, and foundational infrastructure necessary to secure a prosperous future for ourselves. What we need now is a government willing to believe in this vision of prosperity and willing to invest in it.
It has now been a month since it came to light that a multi-billion dollar shipbuilding contract to construct four new BC Ferries vessels was awarded to Chinese shipyard CMI Weihai. Residents of BC, myself included, are still bewildered about how a coastal province like ours, which should have a thriving marine industry, is giving away major shipbuilding contracts to China.
Over the past several days, my Conservative Party of BC colleagues and I have all been publicly pledging to “Build BC.”
What does that mean?
To “Build BC” means we should be taking on projects for BC, in BC, by British Columbians. Hire BC workers and support the 230,000 skilled tradespeople that live here. Keep projects local. Strengthen industry capacity and empower BC businesses. Stop offshoring taxpayer-funded jobs, and put BC families and industries first!
In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the ships of BC Ferries’ main fleet were built right here in B.C. In the 2000s and 2010s, manufacturing moved to Germany, Poland, and Romania – NATO countries. At least we were outsourcing work to countries considered allies of Canada. But these four new ships will be the first BC Ferries vessels to be built in China.
Seaspan, BC’s biggest shipyard, didn’t bid on the BC Ferries contract because they are at capacity for the next decade with federal contracts – but Seaspan told the media it’s a moot point, because labour costs are so much cheaper in Asia and many European nations that Seaspan wouldn’t have won the cost-focused contract anyhow.
In the spring session of the Legislature, Premier David Eby and his NDP government pushed hard to pass Bill 7, the Economic Stabilization (Tariffs Response) Act, and BC NDP MLAs like Christine Boyle and Eby himself moralized about cancelling trips to the U.S. in order to support the local economy and buy BC.
And despite all of the preaching about “buying BC,” we are awarding a Chinese state-owned shipyard a multi-billion dollar contract at a time when China has placed 25-100 percent tariffs on Canadian agri-food products.
As my colleague Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens said, “David Eby spent weeks in the Legislature justifying Bill 7 as necessary to defend B.C.’s economy from foreign tariffs and economic threats. Now, faced with China’s tariffs on Canadian goods and BC Ferries awarding shipbuilding contracts to China, the Premier says he’s powerless.”
With the authority he gave himself with Bill 7, the premier could issue a procurement directive to BC Ferries, stopping any purchase of ferries from China and prioritizing B.C. and Canadian shipyards instead.
But Eby and his BC NDP government don’t have the political will.
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