The B.C. New Democratic Party rebuked its own leader and government over the weekend for allowing the taxpayer-owned BC Ferries corporation to contract out construction of its ships to the Chinese government.
The move occurred at an NDP provincial council meeting on Saturday, where Premier David Eby was grilled for his refusal to override BC Ferries and direct the ships be built in B.C. with new investments to grow a domestic shipbuilding industry.
The provincial labour movement, which makes up a powerful base within the NDP, brought forward an emergency motion to demand BC Ferries be subject to the same B.C.-only procurement rules the Eby government put in place for the rest of the public sector at the start of the U.S. tariff war. The resolution was sponsored by the BC Federation of Labour, United Steelworkers and CUPE BC.
The motion passed. While it is non-binding to the government, it serves as an admonition to the premier that the party is displeased with the direction of BC Ferries and his government on the issue.
The vote followed an extraordinary 24 hours of tension between the Eby government and organized labour, which have spoken out publicly against BC Ferries.
The BC Federation of Labour, BC Building Trades and BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union all criticized BC Ferries and the government for a billion-dollar deal with the brutal, hostile and authoritarian Chinese regime.
BC Ferries said it was the best value, and that North Vancouver-based Seaspan shipyard did not bid. Seaspan has said it is already at-capacity with work for the Canadian Coast Guard and military.
The labour groups argue the provincial and federal governments should use the ferry procurement as an opportunity to expand the capacity of national shipbuilding, generating jobs and revenue for the domestic economy, instead of outsourcing the work overseas.
Senior officials in Eby’s office appeared to tire of the open criticism and began calling labour leaders Friday, telling them they were aiding the BC Conservatives, did not understand details of the procurement, were not thinking about the welfare of ferry-dependent coastal-communities and were turning what could have been a two or three-day story into a defining moment for Eby’s premiership.
The calls were largely viewed as condescending. The emergency motion was put forward to NDP provincial council less than 24 hours later.
“Everyone recognizes the value a domestic shipbuilding industry plays in ensuring our national security,” read an open letter from BC Building Trades CEO Brynn Bourke, whose organization represents 45,000 unionized tradespeople.
“But instead, BC Ferries has opted to send hundreds of millions of dollars overseas and is investing in a country known for poor safety standards and abysmal working conditions. A country that has also imposed tariffs on many of our local agricultural food products, increasing the costs of food for everyday Canadians.
“This decision does not reflect our values as Canadians.”
The organization, a longtime NDP ally, added: “This decision, in this moment in Canada’s history, will forever be a stain on BC Ferries.”
The BC Federation of Labour, another longtime NDP supporter, was “shocked and disappointed” by the move, saying “this short-sighted choice will send hundreds of millions of dollars out of our province, profiting a brutal authoritarian regime instead of enriching local communities.”
Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth has said he’s unable to intervene because BC Ferries is independent.
That defence has failed to gain traction because the government is the sole shareholders of BC Ferries, provides annual funding without which the corporation could not function, holds the service contract that enables sailings, controls the two boards of governance, and installed both the CEO and current board chair as allies of the premier.
Farnworth has said BC Ferries saved $1.2 billion by choosing the Chinese over European shipyards. It’s difficult to put the amount into context since the total value of the contract has not been disclosed.
“Everything is cheaper when you don’t care about how workers are treated, wages that are paid, families that are fed, the environment, safety standards, the quality of work, human rights, whether money stays in our economy, or the national interests of your country,” Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who has deep ties to organized labour, posted on social media Sunday.
“But the true cost always shows up.”
For the NDP, the true cost appears to be a political drubbing for failing to live up to its buy-B.C., Team-Canada, build-local rhetoric, and for a lack of leadership to intervene in a problem at BC Ferries it could reverse, if it wanted to.
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.
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