Government finger-pointing over BC Ferries deal ‘raises all sorts of alarm bells’: Okanagan MP

The fallout of the BC Ferries contract to buy four new ships built in China continues to grow as new details emerge.

Most recently, the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) confirmed today that it’s loaning BC Ferries $1 billion to buy the Chinese-made vessels.

The news came after Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote the Government of BC on June 16, asking the province to confirm “with utmost certainty” that no federal funds would be “diverted” for the deal.

BC Premier David Eby had previously said the deal to hire a Chinese shipyard to build the new ships was not his “preferred outcome,” but he would not interfere.

Speaking with NowMedia this afternoon, Okanagan West–South Kelowna MP Dan Albas did not mince words when talking about the CIB or the governments currently in power at the national and provincial level.

“We have an infrastructure bank that seems to be more about outsourcing Canadian jobs at the expense of Canadian taxpayers,” Albas said. “The acronym CIB, I thought originally was the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, but it seems to me now it’s the Chinese Infrastructure Bank.”

He also speculated that none of Eby, Freeland or Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, who’s a BC MP, even knew about the agreement between the CIB and BC Ferries, which was signed back in March.

“That just raises all sorts of alarm bells,” noted Albas, who serves as vice-chair on the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

According to Albas, Conservatives are not just pointing fingers, but seeking more accountability and transparency in government at the provincial and federal level.

He called the lack of those qualities from the sitting governments “shameful,” using the same word to describe the CIB only revealing the loan information when probed by the Globe & Mail.

“I’ve never seen so much incompetence and so many pointing fingers,” added the Okanagan MP, who expressed shock as to how high-level Canadian politicians could be so out of the loop on such a significant matter that falls under their jurisdiction or responsibilities.

“If we’re going to be Canada Strong, if we’re going to come together as a country and say let’s do it in Canada, then let’s actually do that instead of these side deals of billions of dollars where we see taxpayers funding both operation and capital of the outsourcing of their jobs.”

Albas was quick to point out that both Eby and Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on building in BC and Canada, rallying their supporters against American steel and aluminum tariffs.

Now, he said, Canadian steel and aluminum workers, many of whom are laid off and collecting employment insurance, are watching their government support the outsourcing of the industry through their own tax dollars.

“It’s a betrayal,” Albas stated. “It’s a sign to me that this government, federally and provincially, are part of the problem, they’re not part of the solution.”

Given his vice-chair role on the Transport Committee, the next step for Albas will be appealing to other members to support an inquiry into BC Ferries’ deal with the Chinese shipyard.

The committee is made up of five Liberal MPs, four Conservative MPs, including Albas, and a single Bloc Québécois MP, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, who serves as a vice-chair alongside Albas.

Assuming support from his three Conservative colleagues, the inquiry will need support from at least one other committee member, either Barsalou-Duval or a Liberal MP, to move forward.

When asked bluntly whether the contract to have these BC Ferries ships made in China should be cancelled, Albas did not give a straight answer but instead steered the question toward the CIB.

He says the Conservatives campaigned on getting rid of the CIB, which was created by the Liberal government in 2017 and touted as something that would draw foreign investment to help build infrastructure in Canada.

“This is a corporation that has never delivered anything but bonuses for its own executives,” he claimed. “They have a very poor record for attracting foreign capital – I don’t think they’ve attracted any (and) if so it’s very negligible – and they have failed to deliver on their promises.”

Along with a potential inquiry into the controversial contract, Albas would also like to hear from CIB CEO Ehren Cory and Ministers Freeland and Robertson on the matter.