Federal bank loaning $1B for BC Ferries to buy Chinese-made ships

A federal Crown corporation is loaning BC Ferries $1 billion to help buy four Chinese-made ferries, a purchase that federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland recently said was dismaying and should involve no federal funds.

Canada Infrastructure Bank confirmed the loan on Thursday, saying the new electric ferries “wouldn’t likely be purchased” without the financing.

It says the low-cost loan consists of up to $690 million to buy the vessels and up to $310 million for electrification infrastructure.

Freeland wrote to the province on June 16, asking B.C. to confirm “with utmost certainty” that no federal funds would be “diverted” to the purchase from China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards.

Jeff Groot, executive director of communications for BC Ferries, says in an interview that BC Ferries signed the agreement with the bank before Freeland’s letter to her provincial counterpart, Mike Farnworth.

BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez says in a news release that the full loan would result in expected savings of about $650 million in interest.

Meanwhile, speaking to 1130 NewsRadio on Thursday, MLA for Langley-Abbotsford and the Official Opposition Critic for Transportation Harman Banghu says he has many questions for both the federal and provincial governments about how much they knew prior to the contracts being signed.

“Did [Chrystia Freeland] know about this before signing off? And she should actually ask David Eby, was this the billion-dollar loan that was given for these ferries to be spent in China. Was the Minister of Transportation aware of this federal funding? Was she aware of what happened? That’s what I want to know, when did this all line up?” he said.

Opposition transportation critic wants contract ripped up

Bhangu says the information about the deal being publicly released bit by bit “speaks volumes to this NDP government.”

“Led by David Eby, it has been the most secretive government in British Columbian history. And now Mike Farnworth admits it’s $1.2 [billion]… they’re saving with these ferry costs by shipping it to China. There’s four vessels being made, $300 million less per vessel,” he claimed.

“I want to know the infrastructure, quality, the process, the things in place they will have in check to make sure these ferries are built to quality, to standard, and they will actually last 50, 60 years.”

Bhangu believes the contract should be cancelled.

“We need to take a hard look right now, in British Columbia, economically, what drives this province — its general revenue, and the tax revenue that could have been created off these jobs, the local businesses in the area that could have benefited from this,” he said.

“We need to start building some businesses right here in British Columbia, industries where we can thrive and we can actually create some revenue in our own backyard, provide good-paying jobs so people can have families and buy a home and live their lives here.”

With files from Srushti Gangdev.