A British Columbia trades council has called on BC Ferries to "reverse course" on its decision to award a multi-billion dollar ship building contract to a Chinese company.The BC Building Trades, which represents over 45,000 unionized construction workers, including thousands who work in shipyards, told the premier it would happily provide a local workforce to build as many of the components as possible locally.China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards — a subsidiary of a "state-owned enterprise directly administered by the central government" that is "closely linked" to China's military — was tapped to build four new ships for the transportation service provider."Canadian jobs should always come first, but in today's economic climate, it is more important than ever that governments prioritize the spending of tax dollars locally and focus efforts on creating family-supporting jobs for British Columbians," BC Building Trades Executive Director Brynn Bourke wrote in an open letter to BC Ferries, accusing the company of having "failed in the national call to action to support and buy locally produced goods and services."He lamented that, "while every other major Canadian industry is looking to reshore work, invest in local communities and deepen our autonomy, BC Ferries is moving in the opposite direction."."This decision does not reflect our values as Canadians," Bourke continued. "It does not recognize the longstanding role BC workers have played in building our ship building industry. It does not enable skilled trades training and apprenticeship opportunities for our youth. It does not promote economic activity on our coast or help circulate wages within local communities. And it does nothing to bolster our national security."He pointed out that the four ships BC Ferries is seeking to replace with new Chinese vessels — The Queen of New Westminster, Queen of Cowichan, Queen of Coquitlam, and Queen of Alberni — were all built in BC by British Columbian workers."A new generation of British Columbians were ready and eager to take on this opportunity to build these ferries at home," Bourke added. "With the right procurement structure, BC Ferries could have easily leveraged BC's world-class shipyards ... 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."He declared that the decision "will forever be a stain on BC Ferries," and made it clear that BC Building Trades "stand[s] ready to provide a local workforce to build components of these ferries in BC.".BC Ferries is not the only entity receiving backlash over the move. Premier David Eby has been equally lambasted, with BC Conservative leader John Rustad accusing him of "abandoning Canadian workers.".Rustad says Eby 'abandoning Canadian workers' by awarding BC Ferries contract to Chinese company."Premier Eby talks about building a stronger Canada — but when it mattered most, he turned his back on Canadian workers and handed the deal to Beijing," Rustad lamented. "First it was saying no to a new pipeline, now it's this new agreement. This premier has utterly abandoned Team Canada."
