
Calls to cancel B.C. Ferries contract with China misguided, say mayors in ferry-reliant communities
B.C. Ferries' announcement that its four new vessels will be built in China has made waves, with the ripple effects reaching all the way to Ottawa.
Canada's transport minister, Chrystia Freeland, has said she's disappointed with the decision and the Conservatives, both federally and in B.C., have gone further, saying the deal should be scrapped entirely.
But no Canadian companies bid on the contract, and B.C. Ferries says it would have cost at least $1 billion more to have the ferries built in Europe.
Some mayors in ferry-dependent communities say residents don't care where the new ships are built, as long as it results in more reliable service and affordable fares.
Marine industry association weighs in on shipbuilding growth in B.C.
3 days ago
Duration 7:04
Sechelt Mayor John Henderson says the political rhetoric ignores the needs of people in his community who rely on the ferries as their highway system.
"We need these built, we need them built yesterday," Henderson said. "As ferry-dependent users, we don't really care [where they're built], because we need them."
Henderson acknowledges the new vessels will service the larger routes, and not smaller communities like his, but they will help improve the overall reliability of B.C. Ferries' aging fleet.
"To stop this process and start it again in a new fashion, we're not talking months, we're talking years, and we don't have years."
Andrew Leonard, the mayor of Bowen Island, says his residents are affected when B.C. Ferries ships that are well past their lifespan break down and are out of service.
"The trickle-down effect is that does cause chaos in the Horseshoe Bay terminal," said Leonard, which can in turn disrupt the smaller ferries heading to Bowen Island.
That's why, he says, the political debate about where the ferries will be made is "disconnected" from the needs of local residents.
"I'm not sure how big of a deal it is if there's not Canadian capacity to build those vessels," Leonard said.
North Vancouver's Seaspan, B.C.'s largest shipyard, did not bid on the contract because it's busy building ships for the Royal Canadian Navy.
"I think going forward, there's a huge opportunity to work with the federal government to ensure our shipbuilding industry has the opportunity to build these ferries right here in Canada," said Premier David Eby.
Eby also points out that B.C. Ferries is getting short shrift when it comes to federal cash for ferries, compared to ferries in Atlantic Canada.
B.C. Ferries received $35.6 million from Ottawa last year. Based on 22.7 million passengers that year, that amounts to $1.50 per passenger.
Compare that to Marine Atlantic, which received $192 million from the federal government while servicing 367,786 passengers. That breaks down to $522 per passenger.
Transport committee launching study of B.C. Ferries' $1B loan for Chinese ships
6 days ago
Duration 2:28
The controversial decision to buy a new B.C. Ferries vessel from China has caught the attention of the federal government. The Transport Committee in Ottawa is promising to investigate a loan the Canada Infrastructure Bank gave B.C. Ferries for the purchase. Michelle Morton has more on the concerns being raised about how taxpayer dollars are being invested while Canada faces a trade war.
Trevor Heaver, a UBC professor emeritus who specializes in transport economics, says the federal government's relationship with Marine Atlantic — a federal Crown corporation that operates ferries between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia — is different than that with B.C. Ferries, a private company owned by the B.C. government.
"[Marine Atlantic's] relationship with the federal government is completely different than B.C. Ferries because Canada has an obligation under Confederation to support those ferries," Heaver said.
The federal government agreed to provide subsidies for ferries when Atlantic provinces joined Confederation in 1867, whereas Ottawa's funding for B.C. Ferries was negotiated by former premier Bill Bennett in 1977.
Nonetheless, Eby is using that disparity to bolster his argument that B.C. is consistently forgotten by Ottawa, while central and Atlantic Canada reap the rewards.
The premier also points out that one of Marine Atlantic's newest ships was built in the same Chinese state-owned company, CMI Weihei Shipyards, without a similar backlash.
"In fact, a [Marine Atlantic] ferry was built at the exact same Chinese shipyard as the B.C. Ferries [ships] are going to be built and their ferry[is] paid for in its entirety, whereas the West Coast only qualifies for a loan."
It follows criticism from provincial and federal Conservatives, who say the loan contradicts statements from Freeland that no federal money would subsidize the contract with China.
Kiel Giddens, the B.C. Conservative labour critic, says a key piece of legislation passed to respond to tariff threats — Bill 7 — gives the power to overturn procurement decisions to prioritize a made-in-Canada approach.
"We think [the NDP] government should actually be cancelling this contract and bringing some of these jobs back home," Giddens said. "If not full capacity here, design your procurement in a way that it will be possible for some Canadian jobs and the rest with Canada's allies."
Heaver says demanding that the ships be made in Canada — even at a higher cost — ignores the principles of global free trade.
"The notion that ships to be operated by BC Ferries should be constructed in Canada is acting rather like Mr. Trump," said Heaver, pointing to the U.S. president's protectionist policies such as tariffs.
B.C. shipyard contracted to build federal vessels but not local ferries
18 days ago
Duration 2:07
There have been questions over why a B.C. Ferries' contract went to a Chinese shipyard instead of North Vancouver's Seaspan. As Leanne Yu reports, B.C.'s largest shipyard is already busy with federal projects.
"We have fundamentally to accept that we can't do all things," Heaver said. "And that we rely on a competitive process to use resources most efficiently for the benefit of consumers."
Some ferry users who spoke to CBC News at the Swartz Bay terminal in North Saanich say the upgraded vessels can't come fast enough.
"I'm always concerned about value for dollars," says Erroll Winter, who lives on the Lower Mainland. "Certainly I'd like [the contract] to go toward Canadian builders if it's possible, but I'm also torn between the costs of the ferries. They're already very expensive."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
13 minutes ago
- CTV News
City fines Montreal church for hosting MAGA-affiliated singer Sean Feucht concert
Christian musician Sean Feucht of California preaches to the crowd during a rally at the National Mall in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press) The City of Montreal has fined a local church $2,500 for hosting a concert Friday night by the U.S.-based Christian musician Sean Feucht. The city says the church did not have a permit to organize the concert, which it says ran counter to Montreal's values of inclusion, solidarity and respect. Officials have cancelled Feucht's scheduled concerts in several Canadian cities in recent days, including Halifax, Charlottetown and Quebec City. Feucht has spoken out against 'gender ideology,' abortion and the LGBTQ+ community and his religious and political views have grabbed the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Montreal police arrested a 38-year-old man during a protest Friday night outside the church. They also say a smoke bomb was set off inside the church during Feucht's performance. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2025. The Canadian Press


National Post
41 minutes ago
- National Post
Majority of Canadians see progress a decade after Truth and Reconciliation report: poll
Article content The survey also suggests respondents who said they are proud of Canada's history are more likely to report Canada is making good progress on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, at 68 per cent. Of those who reported they're not proud of Canada's history, just 39.3 per cent said they believe Canada is making good progress. Article content Pride in Canada's history seems to be strongly correlated with the age of respondents. Just 36 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 24 reported feeling proud of that history, while 78 per cent of those 65 and older said the same. Article content Francophone youth reported being more proud of Canada's history (59 per cent) than anglophones (35 per cent) — a finding Jedwab said he was surprised by, given the persistence of the province's separatist movement. Article content Jedwab said while the poll found most Indigenous respondents reported feeling pride in Canadian history, it can't be taken at face value because the sample size was so small. Article content 'There's a need to actually pursue further research in this area to get a better idea of how Indigenous Peoples feel,' he said. Article content 'We need to be more attentive to that diversity in terms of drawing conclusions about the views of Indigenous Peoples … We do need to better understand what the nature of the relationship is right now, how people feel about whether progress is being achieved or not and how we go forward together.' Article content


CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada condemns Hong Kong arrest warrants targeting pro-democracy activists
FILE - A pedestrian looks at the police reward notices for the arrest warrants issued for eight pro-democracy activists living in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia for alleged national security offenses in Hong Kong, Friday, July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File) The Canadian government on Saturday condemned Hong Kong authorities issuing arrest warrants for pro-democracy activists based overseas. 'The individuals targeted yesterday under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in Hong Kong include Canadians and people with close ties to Canada,' the government said in a statement. 'This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad, including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada, will not be tolerated.' Hong Kong's national security police announced arrest warrants for 19 activists based overseas, accusing them of subversion under a stringent law, marking the largest such tally yet. Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Toronto; editing by Diane Craft