Union leaders say Canadian taxpayers are being hit twice by Ottawa’s financing of Chinese shipyard jobs, warning the federal government is undermining its own workers while waiving tariffs meant to protect them.George MacPherson, president of the Shipyard General Workers’ Federation, told the Commons transport committee that federal support for BC Ferries’ offshore contracts amounts to writing off Canadian labour. “If we are using taxpayers’ money to fund projects, surely to God we can put people to work,” he said. “There is no value in Canadian workers. That is basically what they’ve said to us.”The deal in question is a $1 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank at 1.8% interest to finance BC Ferries’ purchase of four vessels from China’s state-run Weihai Shipyards. MacPherson said Ottawa has compounded the damage by scrapping import duties on the vessels when they arrive in Canada. “They just decide they are going for low bids and that’s the bottom line for them,” he said.Conservative MP Dan Albas (Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna, B.C.) called the loan “outrageous,” noting it contained no Canadian content requirements. “To not even blink when BC Ferries came to them and asked for a below-market loan for over a billion dollars, and there was no Canadian content requirement, is unacceptable,” said Albas. He accused Ottawa of betraying Canadian workers while politicians like David Eby and Mark Carney preach about “buying Canadian.”Eric McNeely, president of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, testified the outsourcing was deliberate and part of a long pattern of contracting foreign yards. “BC Ferries has ships built in Germany, Romania and Poland, including at yards that use North Korean labour,” he said. “They’ve purchased used vessels from Greece and now they’re contracting with a hybrid civil-military shipyard run by the Chinese government. Each decision further erodes our Canadian capacity.”McNeely warned the system is tilted against domestic builders. “Two Canadian shipyards did look at the bid for the new major vessels and they walked away because it was clear the lowest price would win, and domestic yards cannot compete with state-subsidized shipyards offering rock bottom labour costs,” he said. “We get the industry we plan for. Nobody planned to keep this work in Canada.”No Liberal MPs on the committee defended the deal. “I think everybody on this committee certainly agrees we would like to see vessels built in Canada and Canadian public money going towards supporting Canadian jobs,” said Liberal MP Will Greaves (Victoria)..Due to a high level of spam content being posted, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
