While the NDP premier was overseas talking about “Buy BC” and “Team Canada,” the government was doing the opposite at home: allowing a multi-billion-dollar ferry-building contract to go to a Chinese state-owned shipyard, with no public debate, no local jobs, and no security guarantees.
This is a betrayal of our workers, our economy, and our national interests.
The contract, awarded to China Merchants Industry Weihai, will see four major BC Ferries vessels built in a facility directly tied to the Chinese Communist Party. It was approved under the leadership of Board Chair Joy MacPhail, former NDP cabinet minister. The province didn’t just stand by. It appointed the board and funds the service. It knew.
This all happened while B.C. seafood harvesters faced retaliatory tariffs, while our economy faced growing instability, and while the Premier was telling British Columbians to “buy local.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of dollars—and thousands of shipbuilding jobs—were sent oversea to an authoritarian regime with a dismal record on labour, human rights, and environmental safety.
It’s not just bad economics. It’s a risk to national security.
According to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Chinese state-sponsored actors routinely conduct cyber espionage against all levels of Canadian government. Colin Cooke, CEO of the Canadian Marine Industries and Shipbuilding Association, said China’s commercial shipbuilding sector is “subsidized to strengthen the country’s military capabilities,” with the very shipyards that produce ferries building warships.
And while China’s military capacity expands through state-backed shipbuilding, the U.S. looked to impose new restrictions on Chinese-built vessels, warning allies to do the same.
So why are we handing one of our most vital transportation assets to a country that’s targeting our infrastructure?
The NDP’s answer? ‘No B.C. company bid.’
But Seaspan made it clear: the procurement process was not designed to support B.C. participation, but to favour the lowest-cost bidder, even if that meant eliminating Canadian jobs and sacrificing quality control.
This is a matter of B.C. lacking capacity, but also a failure of planning and political will.
The government has been in office for eight years. If B.C. doesn’t have the capacity now, it’s because the NDP never followed through on its 2021 promise to rebuild shipbuilding.
Even traditional allies are pushing back. The BC Federation of Labour, CUPE BC, the United Steelworkers, and the BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union have all condemned the deal. The BC Building Trades called it “a stain on BC Ferries.” These are rebukes from voices the NDP usually counts on.
There are concerns about quality. Chinese steel was linked to delays on B.C.’s Pattullo Bridge and Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge. The Stena Estrid, built at the very same shipyard now contracted by BC Ferries, was pulled from service within months of launching due to engine failure. Another Chinese-built ferry suffered breakdowns and stranded passengers. The Premier says we can’t afford delays, but what happens when these new vessels break down too? We could end up right back where we started: families stranded at terminals, no jobs and no refunds. Short-term savings often turn into long-term costs.
This deal reflects the wrong priorities.
Instead of investing in B.C. jobs and capacity, the NDP chose to export taxpayer dollars. Instead of confronting the security risks, they looked the other way. Instead of creating economic resilience, they deepened our reliance on foreign regimes.
And now they’re pretending they can’t intervene.
Let’s not forget: BC Ferries is a public asset. Its board is appointed by this government, and its funding comes from taxpayers. The NDP can’t distance itself from this decision, especially when figures like Mike Farnworth, who served alongside Joy MacPhail during the original Fast Ferries scandal, now claim they can’t intervene.
This isn’t about what the NDP can’t do. It’s about what they won’t do.
The BC Conservative Caucus has called for the deal to be cancelled, and failing that, for the federal government to launch a security review. Because at the very least, British Columbians deserve to know whether we are financing our own vulnerabilities.
We need ferries built to last, built to serve, and built in Canada.
And we need a government that doesn’t just talk about supporting BC workers, but actually does it.
Amelia Boultbee is MLA for Penticton-Summerland