Over 7,000 Canadians signed our 'No CCP Deals' petition, calling on BC Ferries, a publicly funded operator, along with the provincial and federal governments, to halt the ferry service's billion-dollar plan to contract a Chinese state-owned shipyard for the construction of four new vessels.

On behalf of those thousands of voices, I visited B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth’s Port Coquitlam constituency office TWICE, to deliver the petition. But despite being there during office hours, the doors were locked — the lights were on, but nobody appeared to be inside.

This symbolic shut-out mirrors what many Canadians see as a broader betrayal: a Canada Last deal with a hostile foreign regime done while elected officials either looked away or claimed their hands were tied.

Minister Farnworth tried to distance himself from the decision, saying: “B.C. Ferries is an independent company responsible for its own operational decisions.”

But that statement doesn't tell the full story.

BC Ferries may be operationally independent, but it's owned by the BC Ferry Authority, a government-created entity that the province controls through legislation, appointments, and funding.

As Minister of Transportation, Farnworth represents the shareholder interest and thus could have, and should have, set clear expectations that put our economy first when it comes to billion-dollar contracts.

But he didn’t.

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Meanwhile, the federal government gave appearance to be doing all it could about the betrayal to Canadian workers.

On June 16, Liberal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a formal letter to Minister Farnworth stating that she was “dismayed that B.C. Ferries would select a Chinese state-owned shipyard to build new ferries in the current geopolitical context.”

“It is with great consternation and disappointment that I learned of BC Ferries’ recent announcement that it has selected China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai) to build four new major vessels,” Freeland said. 

She also asked for confirmation “with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition of these new ferries.”

But those strong words don’t exactly match reality many discovered through media reports after the letter was sent.

Just weeks earlier, the Canada Infrastructure Bank, a federal Crown corporation overseen by Freeland, approved a $1 billion low-interest loan to BC Ferries to finance those same vessels.

The petition delivery, though delayed, will be completed and copies sent to BC Ferries, Minister Farnworth, Premier David Eby and Minister Freeland.

Because this fight isn’t over. Canadians know the stakes this deal threatens Canadian jobs, economic sovereignty, and our ability to protect critical infrastructure from foreign influence.

That’s why our petition campaign wasn’t called Stop the CCP Deal. It’s called No CCP Deals, to demand that no future billion-dollar contracts be taken from under our noses and awarded to Communist China whose unethical labour standards mean Canadian businesses can’t compete.