OTTAWA — During Monday's question period, Conservative lawmakers quickly targeted the Liberal government over newly revealed emails that contradict its stance on BC Ferries' controversial contract with a Chinese state-owned shipyard. Conservative transport critic Dan Albas accused senior Liberals of prioritizing political interests over Canadian shipbuilders. “Newly uncovered documents show senior Liberals were only concerned about their political interests. They did nothing to cancel the contract and ensure that our shipbuilders could participate,” Albas stated.

The documents reportedly conflict with comments made by Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland in June. At that time, Freeland distanced the federal government from BC Ferries' decision to award a significant shipbuilding contract to China. On June 18, she expressed her shared concern with the Conservatives but emphasized that the federal government had no jurisdiction over BC Ferries. “There seems to be some confusion among the Conservative MPs about what is provincial jurisdiction and what is federal jurisdiction … the federal government has no authority over BC Ferries,” Freeland said.

BC Ferries announced on June 11 that it had awarded a contract to Weihai Shipyards in China to build four new vessels, with no Canadian companies submitting bids. However, internal communications released on Monday indicate that while Freeland publicly distanced her government from the deal, senior Liberal aides were discussing ways to obscure the connection to a forthcoming federal financing announcement.

One email flagged a pending announcement from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) regarding a $1 billion loan to BC Ferries for the purchase of the Chinese-made ships and related infrastructure. The email noted, “The main challenge here is that the Conservatives hate CIB and I think they will run with this. The project is likely not viable without our loan.” It also expressed concerns about the implications of canceling the loan for relations with China, especially as the government sought to re-establish economic ties and remove tariffs.

This correspondence was part of a document package submitted to a House of Commons committee investigating the CIB's financing of the Chinese vessels. The CIB loan to BC Ferries was officially announced on June 26, although details had leaked to the media prior to that.

Freeland had previously asked British Columbia's Minister Mike Farnworth in a June 16 letter to confirm that no federal funds would be used for the acquisition of the Chinese vessels. Albas called for greater transparency from Freeland regarding her knowledge of the situation. “Freeland’s tone was very stern and certain that not one federal dollar should go toward the capital purchase of these ships, but that doesn’t totally line up with what we now know some of these senior Liberals were doing behind the scenes,” he said.

Albas, who is also a member of the House committee investigating the CIB loan, anticipates that more information about the Liberals' prior knowledge will emerge. “I think there’s other shoes to fall on this,” he added.