Ottawa’s $1B Ferry Fiasco: Liberals Face Grilling Over China Shipyard Deal

Canadian Transport Committee Launches Urgent Probe into $1 Billion BC Ferries Loan to Chinese Shipyard

Ottawa, July 7, 2025 — The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities convened an emergency meeting today to address mounting concerns over a $1 billion low-interest loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to BC Ferries for the purchase of four new vessels from a Chinese state-owned shipyard. In a unanimous decision, the committee voted to launch an urgent study, summoning key government and industry leaders to testify within the next 30 days. The move, driven by opposition parties, has sparked a heated debate about Canadian jobs, government accountability, and the role of federal infrastructure funding in a geopolitically sensitive climate.

A Controversial Loan Sparks Outrage

Let’s be clear about what just happened. The Canada Infrastructure Bank—the taxpayer-funded slush fund dreamed up by Trudeau and now weaponized by Mark Carney just handed $1 billion to a Chinese Communist Party-controlled shipyard. Not to build Canadian infrastructure. Not to support Canadian workers. But to build ferries for BC Ferries on the other side of the world.

That’s not a rumor. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s a fact.

The beneficiary? China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards a state-owned enterprise of the Chinese Communist regime. Yes, while Canadian shipyards are idle, while steel and aluminum workers are being laid off thanks to Ttump punitive tariffs, Ottawa is bankrolling foreign labor in a dictatorship.

Now, Conservative MP Dan Albas had the nerve to say what every sane Canadian is thinking. He called the loan “outrageous.” That’s putting it mildly. “At a time when steelworkers are facing pink slips,” he said, “it’s unthinkable that our government is subsidizing jobs in China.”

And he’s right. Completely right. But the story gets worse.

It turns out Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, a woman who’s been in Cabinet longer than most of us have had Netflix actually wrote a letter in June expressing “great consternation” at the ferry deal. She told BC Ferries to not use federal money to pay the CCP. Strong words, yes. But meaningless, because just weeks later, a billion-dollar loan was quietly approved by her own government.

So what happened? Did Freeland not know? Did she lie? Or did someone overrule her?

Dr. Leslyn Lewis called it what it is: “either incompetence or deliberate misleading.” She’s being generous. Because if you believe this was an accident, you haven’t been paying attention. This is the Liberal model outsourcing Canadian jobs, enriching foreign regimes, and pretending to be shocked after the fact.

Committee Dynamics: A Tense and Procedural Battle

The hybrid meeting, held in-person and via Zoom, was marked by procedural wrangling and political posturing, reflecting the minority government’s fragile dynamics. Early in the session, a dispute over speaking order centered on whether Liberal MP Mike Kellaway or Albas should speak first escalated into a point of order and a challenge to the chair’s decision. A recorded vote (5 yeas, 4 nays) overturned the chair’s initial ruling, allowing Albas to present his motion first, a victory for the opposition.

Albas’ motion called for a single meeting within 30 days to hear testimony from four witnesses: the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, the CEO of the CIB, and the CEO of BC Ferries. Each would face one hour of questioning, followed by an hour to discuss next steps. The motion aimed to scrutinize the CIB’s decision-making, the government’s role, and the broader implications for Canadian jobs and geopolitics.

Liberals, led by Kellaway and MP Will Greaves, sought to temper the motion’s urgency. Kellaway proposed an amendment to remove the requirement for immediate recommendations, arguing that expert analysis should precede conclusions to avoid “presupposing outcomes.” The amendment was defeated (4 yeas, 5 nays), with Conservatives and Bloc Québécois MPs holding firm.

Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval offered a compromise amendment, replacing the recommendation clause with a one-hour discussion to decide the study’s next steps. This flexibility allowing the committee to extend the study if needed gained unanimous support (9 yeas, 0 nays). “We need to hear from these witnesses without prejudging the outcome,” Barsalou-Duval said, while also raising concerns about Quebec’s underfunded ferry needs, such as the Magdalen Islands’ aging fleet.

The final motion, as amended, passed unanimously, signaling broad agreement on the need for scrutiny, though underlying tensions between government caution and opposition urgency remain.

Parliament or Kindergarten? The Committee Showdown Over China’s Ferry Deal

So here’s a question: when your government quietly hands a billion dollars to a Chinese Communist shipyard, who do you think should speak first to demand answers?

At the center of it? A pathetic turf war over who got to speak first Conservative MP Dan Albas, who brought forward the motion to investigate the scandal, or Liberal MP Mike Kelloway, who wanted to stall it. Predictably, it spiraled into a “point of order,” a procedural fistfight over screen positions and hand icons, as if they were teenagers fighting for TikTok clout.

Eventually, a vote was held because apparently you need to vote to let an elected official speak in a democracy. Five MPs said yes, four said no. The motion stood. Albas won. And suddenly, the Liberals lost control of the narrative.

And what was this motion they were so afraid of?

Albas called for just one meeting—within 30 days—to question the people responsible:

• The Minister of Housing and Infrastructure,

• The Minister of Transport,

• The CEO of the Infrastructure Bank,

• And the CEO of BC Ferries.

Each would face an hour of questions. And then brace yourself: they’d have one more hour to decide what to do next. That’s it. One meeting. Sixty minutes of answers. But even that was too much for the Liberals.

MP Mike Kelloway, doing his best impression of a professional staller, proposed an amendment to remove any chance of action. His excuse? “Let’s not presuppose outcomes.” Right. Heaven forbid we connect any dots or hold anyone accountable. That amendment? Voted down. Conservatives and the Bloc held the line.

Then came Bloc MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval who offered a compromise: scrap the immediate recommendation, but keep an hour to decide next steps after testimony. Smart. Strategic. Reasonable. Even the Liberals couldn’t object. That one passed unanimously.

But let’s not kid ourselves.

This wasn’t about process. It was about control. It was about a government that’s terrified you might see what’s behind the curtain: a trillion-dollar apparatus that enriches foreign regimes, hollows out Canadian industry, and lies about it afterward.

From Nation-Building to Beijing Bailouts

The Canada Infrastructure Bank was created to fund infrastructure in Canada. That was the entire premise. It was sold to the public as a forward-thinking, market-leveraging tool to build the country’s roads, ports, transit systems, and energy grids—while attracting private sector investment along the way. That was the deal. That was the mandate. So how did it end up writing a $1 billion cheque to a Chinese Communist shipyard?

The people running this country have an answer: they say it’s for “green infrastructure.” Electrified ferries. Cleaner seas. A brighter, greener tomorrow. That’s the excuse. But like all excuses from this government, it collapses under even the slightest scrutiny.

Let’s start with the obvious: China’s shipyards don’t run on dreams and solar panels. They run on coal, lots of coal. China burns more of it than every other country on Earth combined. It powers their steel mills. It powers their electricity grid. It powers their factories. So when the Canada Infrastructure Bank claims it’s helping the planet by funding ships built in Weihai, it’s not just mistaken, it’s lying. You cannot cut emissions by offshoring your emissions to the dirtiest industrial base on the planet. That’s not green. That’s hypocrisy dressed up in climate slogans.

And then there’s the labor. When Canadian workers lose jobs to foreign competitors, we’re told it’s because of “efficiency.” Lower costs. Market forces. But the people parroting that line never mention what actually makes China’s costs lower: slave labor, state subsidies, and zero environmental standards. Chinese workers don’t unionize. They don’t strike. They don’t file safety complaints. They work in conditions no Canadian would tolerate, because they have no choice.

So let’s not pretend this is just a better deal. This is a moral failure. Canada’s infrastructure bank, created to lift this country up is now bankrolling a regime that locks up minorities, silences dissent, and poisons its air with abandon. And the payoff? Electrified ferries with steel forged in dirty furnaces, powered by electricity from coal-fired plants, welded together by people making pennies on the dollar.

This is what the government calls “sustainable infrastructure.”

If you use a gas stove or drive a pickup truck in Canada, you're the villain. But if you’re a Chinese state-owned shipyard burning coal to build ships funded by Canadian taxpayers, you're part of the climate solution.

It’s sick. It’s dishonest. And every single person who approved this loan should be forced to explain it, under oath. Because the people footing the bill aren’t just being robbed. They’re being mocked.

BC Conservatives Slam $1B China Ferry Deal

In response to an inquiry from The Opposition, BC Conservative MLA Harman Bhangu has issued a strong rebuke of both the provincial and federal governments over the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s $1 billion loan to support BC Ferries’ decision to award a vessel construction contract to a Chinese state-owned shipyard.

Bhangu, the Official Opposition’s Transportation Critic, responded to our request for comment with the following statement:

"Premier Eby and Minister Freeland love to wave the ‘Canada First’ flag, but right now, they’re waving a white flag to Beijing. Using a billion taxpayer dollars to build ferries in China after cyberattacks, tariff warfare, and economic bullying isn’t just bad policy, it’s reckless surrender."

Responding to claims that the contract with China is already locked in and cannot be reversed, Bhangu was blunt:

"The government pretends this deal with China is unstoppable, but that’s just an excuse to avoid responsibility. True leaders don’t hide behind bad decisions. They reverse them. It’s time Ottawa and Victoria stepped up, showed some spine, and defended Canadian jobs and national security."

Bhangu also emphasized the broader implications of the decision:

"This isn’t just about ferry vessels. It’s about Canadian sovereignty, economic security, and good-paying jobs. We’re sacrificing over 700 Canadian suppliers, thousands of B.C. workers, and billions in local economic benefits. That’s not just outsourcing. It’s abandoning our values and our own people."

As for what real leadership would look like, Bhangu laid it out clearly:

"Real leadership would mean renegotiating or terminating this disastrous loan. It would mean bringing those shipbuilding jobs home to Seaspan Shipyards and their extensive Canadian supply chain. It means safeguarding our economic and national security and protecting taxpayers from funding a foreign competitor that actively undermines Canadian industries."

We thank Mr. Bhangu for his direct response and will continue to seek comment from both provincial and federal officials on this issue.

What’s Next?

What’s next? Well, for once in this trainwreck of a story, something that smells like actual democracy: a parliamentary committee. Yes, that rare moment when the lights flicker on in Ottawa and the Liberals have to stop dodging and start answering questions. You’ve got Ministers on the docket. You’ve got the CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. You’ve got the head of BC Ferries. And for once, they don’t get to hide behind talking points. They don’t get to mumble “no comment” and vanish into the summer recess like nothing happened.

And let’s be honest—we only got here because it’s a minority government. Thank God for that. If this were a majority, they’d already be on a beach in Tofino with a piña colada and a press release blaming Stephen Harper. But not this time. Not when the Conservatives and the Bloc teamed up and dragged this rotten mess into the daylight. Not when the NDP got absolutely gutted, reduced to seven seats and stripped of party status. So no, there’s no Jagmeet Singh riding to the Liberals’ rescue with a prop moustache and a shrug. There’s no shield. Just raw exposure.

And exposure is exactly what they deserve.

This committee hearing is scheduled before August 6th. That’s your new deadline, folks. That’s when the Liberals will be dragged—kicking and screaming—into a room with real questions and no escape routes. The outcome? It could change everything. Maybe it sparks reforms. Maybe it torpedoes the CIB. Or maybe it just confirms what most Canadians already know: these people aren’t just unfit to lead. They’re incapable of even learning from their own mess.

And let’s not forget this isn’t some abstract fiscal footnote. This is about Canadian jobs. Canadian shipyards. Canadian workers. It’s about a nation that once built the Avro Arrow now being told we can't even weld a ferry hull. And who’s telling us that? The same cast of characters that brought you blackface apologies, budget blowouts, ArriveCAN scandals, and now this outsourcing our infrastructure to the same regime that’s probing our internet cables.

This is a betrayal of sovereignty, plain and simple. It’s a government more comfortable doing business with Beijing than standing up for Burnaby. And that’s why this matters. Because this moment this committee is our chance to demand better.

So here’s what happens next: no more summer amnesia. No more media gaslighting. No more bureaucratic fog machines. We hold every single one of them to the fire. We get the receipts. We demand the truth.

And if they can’t deliver that? Then maybe, just maybe, it’s time for a new government one that remembers who built this country and still believes it’s worth defending.

Because Canada can build ships. Canada can defend its data. And Canada and Canadians damn well deserves better than this.