Transport Committee on Aug. 1st, 2025

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

What is the primary reason that BC Ferries decided to award the contract to a state-owned shipyard in the People's Republic of China?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

The evaluation criteria that we use to assess bids from yards around the world look at a combination of factors, including technical capabilities, delivery timelines, safety, commitment to quality and also cost. We use a combination of criteria to assess what yard can deliver the best value for British Columbians.

I hope that answers the question.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Are the shipbuilding workers in the People's Republic of China better than the shipbuilding workers here in Canada?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

The yard that we selected met very high standards for—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Are they higher than the ones here in Canada?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

They met the same standards that we would apply to any yard from any part of the world.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Just to clarify, do the state-owned companies that employ these workers in China follow the same safety, labour and environmental regulations as private companies and unions here in Canada?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

What I can say, based on this particular procurement, is that—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

That's kind of a yes or no question.

[Nicolas Jimenez]

Again, I'll try to answer the question. We assessed every yard against the same sets of standards for quality, safety and environmental standards. This yard met the high bar that we set for ourselves, whether we're working domestically or internationally.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Do shipyards in the People's Republic of China pay their workers the same as the shipyards here in Canada do?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

I think the member would have to ask the shipyards themselves—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

It's a pretty easy question, I think.

[Nicolas Jimenez]

The likely answer is no.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I think so.

Would you acknowledge that we are essentially bankrolling the offshoring of critical shipbuilding jobs to an adversarial regime because it is willing to pay its workers less and have them work in worse and lower safety, environmental and labour conditions?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

What I'd say is that we settled on a shipyard that is bringing significant value to British Columbians. We're making sure that the system we're supposed to be running delivers safe, reliable and affordable ferry service. It's a key part of our renewal program right now—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Sir, Seaspan said it would have liked to build these ships. Is that correct?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

Seaspan has been very public in saying that it was not able to participate in this program because it had no capacity—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

They expressed interest. It's true that you formulated the contract in a way that Seaspan was unable to build.

One thing you mentioned was the fact that you needed these ships right away and that we didn't have enough time. You made a good point, but I was looking into it and the oldest ships you have in service—you can correct me, but it may be the C-class—are 30 or 40 years old, and you're going to depreciate them over a long period of time. Presumably, the forecast for passenger growth would have been well known.

Why are you scrambling to purchase ships here at the last minute, when we should have known for decades? We could have incorporated the acquisition of these ferries into a proper shipbuilding strategy to ensure that we're building that important industrial capacity here in Canada and creating Canadian jobs in shipbuilding and in steel and aluminum production, instead of waiting until the last minute to use it as an excuse so we can go buy them on the cheap from the People's Republic of China, creating jobs in that country instead of our own.

[Nicolas Jimenez]

There are a number of things I'm going to take issue with in the member's questions, because they're just not correct.

First, this program and the age of our ships are very well known and have been known for a very long time. We actually started this process eight years ago, before the pandemic, and had to shut it down during that time. At that time we were very public, attending industry conferences every year and putting out a 20-year view of what our shipbuilding needs looked like. The industry was very well aware of where we were at and where we were going.

The other thing the member mentioned was that somehow we excluded or designed a contract to make it impossible for the shipyard to bid. That's simply not the case. The reality is that in shipyards.... Seaspan has been very public about this. It acknowledged that it was not able to participate in this series build because it simply did not have capacity in its yard, given the commitments that—

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

What was the turnaround you were requiring for the ferries?

[Nicolas Jimenez]

We expect the first ship to be delivered at the end of the decade, in 2029.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

That's four years.

[Nicolas Jimenez]

That's correct.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

You had 40 years—