OTTAWA—MP Leslyn Lewis blasted the Liberal government for failing Canadian workers after United Steelworkers representatives testified that thousands of Canadian jobs were lost when BC Ferries contracted new vessels from a Chinese state-owned shipyard backed by a $1 billion low-interest loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).
At the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, labour union leaders said:
Canadian steel producers, including Stelco, could have supplied the steel for the ferries.
Thousands of good-paying, unionized jobs for steelworkers and skilled trades were lost to foreign competition.
Canada missed a generational opportunity to strengthen its steel and shipbuilding industries.
The $1-billion loan failed to meet the CIB’s own mandate to create economic benefits for Canadians.
“In Nanticoke, a town just a few minutes from where I live in Haldimand-Norfolk, the Stelco steel mill employs thousands of workers and drives our local economy,” Lewis said while at committee.
“These are the same workers already battling unjustified U.S. tariffs. Now, with a $1 billion, taxpayer-funded ferry contract being handed to a Chinese-state shipyard, it feels like a slap in the face.”
The loan agreement with BC Ferries was signed March 28 but not publicly disclosed until June 26.
It is now financing the construction of four ferries in China – despite the CIB’s mandate to attract private investment for infrastructure in Canada.
“This government had a clear choice: uplift our world-class Canadian workers or allow their jobs to be shipped overseas. They chose the latter,” said Lewis. “Haldimand–Norfolk knows the value of our steel industry, and Canadians know we can build the best here at home. Ottawa needs to take accountability for this failure and start putting our workers and industries first.”
