Instead of supporting domestic industry, they've made it easy for BC Ferries to award a multi-billion-dollar contract to a Chinese state-owned shipyard. The move will outsource valuable jobs and economic opportunities to a country that still imposes punitive tariffs on Canadian goods like canola, seafood, and electric vehicles.

The deal, which was announced Tuesday, was signed with China Merchants Industry's Weihai Shipyard, greenlighting the construction of four new ferries between 2026 and 2031.

B.C. Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez has defended the move as a choice made in the absence of Canadian bidders, but the political backlash has been swift and wide-ranging.

"Canadian shipyards and their supply chains cannot compete with low‑wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards, and lower safety standards," North Vancouver–based shipbuilder Seaspan wrote in a statement last year after BC Ferries' request for proposal for new major vessels was released.

John Rustad, B.C. leader of the opposition, called the deal a security threat. "BC must cancel BC Ferries' contract with China," he said. "China's money laundering, China's fentanyl, and China's election interference have all hurt BC and Canada. This is a national security issue—moreover, BC cannot give China billions of BC tax dollars that should be going to our BC workers."

In another post, Rustad aimed Premier David Eby directly: "Instead of fighting for shipbuilding jobs and opportunities for workers in BC — the BC NDP has allowed these jobs to go to communist China. The BC NDP and Eby are literally taking food from the mouths of BC workers to give it to China. Is this what the NDP meant by 'elbows up'?"

B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth has expressed concern over the lack of Canadian content in the deal, particularly given the "ongoing trade disputes" with China. "I do have concerns around procuring services from any country that is actively harming Canada's economy through unfair tariffs or other protectionist trade practices," he said in a statement to Postmedia.

Farnworth's concern stopped short of promising any intervention, citing the "independence" of B.C. Ferries. This, despite Conservative MLA Harman Bhangu pointing out, "The government appoints most of the BC Ferries board, including the board chair, who is a former NDP cabinet minister."

"This deal is fully within the government's control," Bhangu furthered. 

Federal Conservatives are also stepping up the pressure on ferry operators to put Canadians first.

MP Dan Albas, representing Okanagan-Lake Country, criticized both the deal and federal funding that appears poised to support it. "Despite having world-class shipbuilders like Seaspan in Vancouver, BC Ferries has chosen a Chinese state-owned enterprise to build four new ships even though the Prime Minister has declared China 'the biggest security threat to Canada.' Meanwhile, the Liberals are providing B.C. Ferries with $36 million with no conditions to protect Canadian workers," he said in the House of Commons.

Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland deflected responsibility, saying that while Transport Canada supports BC Ferries operationally, "BC Ferries is entirely under provincial jurisdiction."

Mission-Matsqui-Abbotsford MP Brad Vis pointed out the hypocrisy of the Liberals' reluctance to do what they can to redirect the deal. The MP asked whether these ferries from China would be subject to the same tariffs Canada has imposed on Chinese electric vehicles. No commitment to do so was offered.

The BC Ferries and Marine Workers' Union called the contract "a political choice with long-term consequences," stating: "British Columbians have been clear: they want ferries built here, by Canadian workers, not by authoritarian regimes with records of human rights abuses and unfair labour practices."

In their statement, the union also challenged the idea that the deal was simply about value for money: "This is not about value for money. It is about short-term cost savings over long-term capacity. Seaspan, Allied, Davie and other Canadian yards can build the ferries B.C. needs. They were shut out by a procurement process focused on cost and delivery speed, not local impact or long-term value."