Transport Committee on Feb. 25th, 2026

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I look forward to the report of this committee.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

That's fantastic.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I know you've been studying this for a while, so I look forward to recommendations from the committee. We will respond to those accordingly.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Okay, it's the province's fault, and now we'll wait for the committee as it's our responsibility.... I mean, the former minister—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Well, sir, I would suggest that you're studying this for a reason. If that reason is to have constructive assistance in changing policy and changing laws, then that is the purpose. I would have to yield to and respect this process. As I said, I'm looking forward to recommendations that may stem from this.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

The previous minister of Transport wrote to you on June 18 asking your department to have some level of review on this. Have you ignored that since then?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I would say that we had no authority to undertake that review.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Okay, so matters of national security—

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

It's an ex post facto review. It is not something we're able to do.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Okay, it's passing the buck again.

This is a matter of national security. We know the company is owned by a foreign government that there have certainly been questions about in the past. There's no accountability or responsibility, especially when the alarm bells have been raised by people whom you sat at the cabinet table with for that period of time, such as the previous minister of Transport.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I'm here to answer your questions. I don't know if there's a question there.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Okay.

There are other critical pieces of federal infrastructure. Obviously, there are going to be many. Whether it's in the transport sector or other sectors, there's going to be a lot of investment into critical infrastructure. That's in the budget.

Is there going to be a process in which, if this particular company or other companies that are state-run companies from China...? Is that going to be reviewed in any way? I understand the Investment Canada Act, but what other responsibilities are there in national public security, which you head, that should be undertaken?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

For all the major projects that are going through the review process, there is a security component. Colleagues here can speak to that if you wish.

I think we're out of time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Muys.

Next we'll go to Ms. Nguyen.

Ms. Nguyen, the floor is yours. You have five minutes, please.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, thank you for joining us today to have this important conversation on BC Ferries.

As my colleague noted, several of our close NATO allies, including the Netherlands, Sweden and France, have also engaged in offshore shipbuilding procurement projects with the same company that BC Ferries used to do their ferry procurement.

Could you tell me a bit about how Public Safety assesses potential risks associated with foreign-built vessels, especially when similar procurement decisions are being made by Canada's trusted security partners?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I'll ask Mr. Bilodeau to shed some light on that.

[Richard Bilodeau]

Thank you very much.

Maybe Ms. Lloyd will be able to supplement and share on this.

Obviously, exchanges with our allies are key components not just of the intelligence community but of public safety as well in understanding the landscape. My understanding is that part of the procurement process from BC Ferries was to understand the procurements in other jurisdictions.

Without getting into specific details of intelligence, obviously, we use information from all around the world to inform our decision-making and our advice to government in terms of different risks. That's just generally speaking, not necessarily in this situation. Understanding those risks is a key component of our analysis, whether it's in the Investment Canada Act or, as the minister highlighted, in supporting work that's undertaken by the Major Projects Office.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thanks very much.

Ms. Lloyd, given your position at CSIS, could you expand a bit on whether there are any concerns that you have identified with BC Ferries and this particular procurement?

[Vanessa Lloyd]

Through the chair, I thank you very much.

Perhaps I will start by saying to the committee that our underlying assessments of the risks have not changed. The pragmatic and principled approach of this government has national security and economic security at the core. As I mentioned earlier, we are constantly collecting intelligence relevant to economic security threats, including foreign interference, espionage or cyber-threats. As well, we are constantly, as Mr. Bilodeau said, producing intelligence and information to inform the government. Our job, at this point, is to make sure they are navigating those partnerships with an informed perspective.

As it relates to these particular ferries, our role, at this point, after a procurement decision has been taken, is to be available to our stakeholders—the province and BC Ferries—should they have concerns. It's also to make sure they are equipped, as the member referenced, to understand the various risks in engaging with a state-owned enterprise in this particular context. What that looks like is making sure they are equipped with tools prior to travelling to a country or engaging with different entities, so they can understand what foreign interference looks like and be extra confident that they understand how to report to the national security agencies—CSIS, the RCMP and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security—any concerns about those engagements.

[Chi Nguyen, Liberal, Spadina—Harbourfront, ON]

Thank you. That's helpful context as I learn more about this part of the work.

Minister, one thing that has been very clear throughout the process of the study is that establishing clarity around the roles and responsibilities of each jurisdiction is important, especially around the role of procurement. To clarify, I've learned that BC Ferries operates independently from the federal government, meaning that there's no direct federal involvement when it comes to the procurement and contracting of these ferries.

Tell me a little about the role the federal government and Public Safety play when stepping in to support this.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Particularly when business investments are made, there are certain provisions that, under the Investment Canada Act, will require a review. We do routine reviews. In fact, the first set of reviews is undertaken by Industry Canada. From there, it comes to us. If there are security concerns, we undertake the review.

Oftentimes, we approve it. We may also recommend mitigation, and then Industry Canada writes some mitigation into the approval. It may also be denied. At certain times, we may seek a wind-down of the operation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Nguyen.

Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, you said that no security review is carried out for decisions made by independent entities.

Let me give you another example.

Via Rail must decide who will build the next trains to replace its fleet of long‑distance trains.

If Via Rail decides to do business with a Russian or Chinese company, that's its business, and you have no say in the matter.

Is that right?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

We now have a buy Canada mandate, which we announced several weeks ago.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

However, this doesn't apply to the replacement of Via Rail's fleet. That's what your government said. This is what the media reported publicly.

Are you announcing today that you plan to ensure that these trains are manufactured in Canada or Quebec? That would make me happy.