Delegates attending the convention of British Columbia’s New Democrats have called on their own government to build ferries in Canada and “prioritize” shipyards in B.C.
The appeal comes in form of a resolution backed by the BC Federation of Labour and BC Building Trade among others, and follows BC Ferries’ decision to contract a shipyard owned by China’s communist government to build four new major vessels, with BC Ferries citing costs and a lack of local capacity for the decision.
Brynn Bourke, executive director of BC Building Trade, says the provincial shipping industry has reached what she calls aninflection point” in pointing to the political support that the shipping industries in Germany and Poland receive from their respective governments.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Bourke says B.C. “must act now” if the province ever wants to see ferry construction return to the province.
Rob Ashton, president of the International Longshore Workers Union Canada, and candidate for the leadership of the federal NDP, agrees with Bourke’s call to build ferries in B.C. to ensure good paying local jobs.
Ashton says if Germany can build its own ferries, “why the hell can’t” Canada do the same, drawing loud applause from the almost 800 delegates, with most of them in favour of the resolution.
It also calls on the provincial government to work with Ottawa to further invest in local shipbuilding, pass legislation for local content and jobs in ferry procurement and ask Ottawa to reinstitute a 25 per cent import duty on vessels built 100 per cent abroad.
Delegates have been meeting since Friday in Victoria for the party’s biannual convention, where Premier David Eby will face a leadership review after winning about 93 per cent in 2023, but nearly losing last year’s provincial election.