Conservatives Demand Firing of Top BC Ferries Bosses Over $1B China Contract

Rustad: “Premier Eby is endorsing the China ferry deal by keeping the BC Ferries bosses who signed the contract.”

 

VICTORIA, BC: John Rustad, Leader of the Official Opposition and Conservative MLA for Nechako Lakes, today demanded Premier David Eby immediately remove BC Ferries Services Board Chair Joy MacPhail and BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez for presiding over the $1-billion shipbuilding contract with a Chinese shipyard that hands BC jobs – and taxpayer dollars – to Beijing.

“The Chinese government just slapped crushing new tariffs on Canadian farmers and seafood producers, and this government still lets BC Ferries hand a billion dollars to a Chinese yard,” said Rustad. “That contract is a betrayal of B.C. workers. If Ms. MacPhail and Mr. Jimenez won’t protect our shipbuilders and tradespeople, they should be fired – immediately.”

Rustad said both MacPhail and Jimenez have shown a complete failure of judgment and leadership by pushing forward with the contract despite Canada’s growing trade dispute with Beijing.

“This is not complicated – stand with BC workers or stand with Beijing. MacPhail and Jimenez have chosen Beijing,” said Rustad.

“By keeping MacPhail and Jimenez in place, David Eby is endorsing their decision and their priorities – putting the BC NDP firmly on the side of Beijing over BC workers,” said Rustad. “Cancel the China ferry deal. Fire the people responsible. Build the ferries here at home.”

“David Eby cannot have it both ways,” Rustad continued. “He can’t lecture farmers about standing up for Canada while overseeing a ferry procurement that ships jobs to Beijing. If he’s serious about defending British Columbians, he will fire the people who green-lit this disaster and cancel the contract.”

The Leader of the Official Opposition called for immediate, concrete steps:

  • Terminate the appointments of BC Ferries Services Board Chair Joy MacPhail and BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez for failing to protect B.C. jobs and interests.

  • Immediately suspend any work or payments under the Beijing contract pending a full public review.

  • Re-open the procurement with strict Canadian content terms and a requirement that vessels for BC waters be built in Canadian shipyards by Canadian tradespeople.

  • Provide a full accounting to the Legislature and to taxpayers of how this contract was awarded and what safeguards – if any – were used to protect Canadian jobs.

“It’s just common sense,” Rustad said. “B.C. ferries should be built in B.C., not in Beijing. Premier Eby needs to stop hiding behind process and start standing up for workers, for fishers, for farmers, and for Canadian sovereignty.”

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Media Contact:
Brad Zubyk, Chief of Staff
brad.zubyk@leg.bc.ca