Eby’s China Ferry Deal Is a Slap in the Face to Working People

A bullshit deal that betrayed everyone in BC

Let me start with a warning: this one’s going to be hotter than usual. I’m not pulling punches. Not when it comes to jobs, integrity, and the people who built this province.

Like a lot of folks in this province, I used to be a dyed-in-the-wool NDPer. Union halls, picket lines, campaign signs—I believed in the power of government to support working people. I still do. But what David Eby and the BC NDP just pulled with BC Ferries is nothing short of betrayal. Not just of working British Columbians, but of the very values the party used to stand for.

In case you missed it, BC Ferries is spending billions of taxpayer dollars to build four new ferries in—wait for it—China. Not Esquimalt. Not North Vancouver. Not Prince Rupert or Nanaimo. Nope. China.

Let’s call this what it is: a complete sellout of BC workers, and a public relations shipwreck for a Premier who’s made a career out of pretending to stand up for local jobs, local procurement, and middle-class families.

The Economic Backstab

We’ve got shipyards in this province. Damn good ones. Skilled tradespeople who’ve dedicated their lives to building and maintaining our marine infrastructure.

Seaspan in Vancouver.

Point Hope Maritime in Victoria.

Allied Shipbuilders. Hundreds—thousands—of workers whose paycheques feed BC families and fuel local economies.

And we’re sending their jobs overseas. Why? Because it’s “cheaper”?

Let me translate that: it’s cheaper because workers in China don’t have the same protections, wages, or safety standards we’ve fought for here.

If the Premier thinks that’s a good reason to send public contracts abroad, then he’s got no business calling himself a friend of labour.

How can this government, which constantly talks about building a sustainable economy, justify pumping billions into a foreign state-owned shipyard halfway around the world—while shipbuilders in Esquimalt are left twisting in the wind?

The hypocrisy stinks like diesel on a hot dock.

The Moral Failure

This isn't just about jobs. It’s about values.

How many speeches have we heard from the Premier about “investing in people”? About the importance of local procurement? About sustainability, resilience, and economic sovereignty?

And now, the same government that boasts about “Buy BC” and “Team Canada” is writing cheques to the People’s Republic of China. A regime with one of the worst human rights records on the planet. A regime that censors free speech, imprisons dissidents, and threatens global security.

This is the same David Eby who used to rail against foreign influence, who warned about the dangers of authoritarian regimes. But now, with public funds on the line, all of that goes out the porthole.

If you can’t see the moral contradiction here, you might be working in the Premier’s office.

A Union-Busting Move Dressed Up in Bureaucratic Excuses

Let me be blunt: this is union-busting in a necktie.

The NDP used to be the party that stood with workers. And yet today, under David Eby, they’ve done more to undermine skilled trades than any BC Liberal government ever dreamed of.

This contract doesn’t just hurt BC’s shipbuilders—it sends a message loud and clear: your skills aren’t valued, your work isn’t needed, and your future doesn’t matter.

This decision has sparked outrage from every corner—former shipyard workers, union leaders, even longtime NDP supporters.

Layne Clark, daughter of former BC NDP Premier Glen Clark and current Director of Development at the BC Building Trades, didn't hide her feelings about the economic rationale of this deal.

This isn’t just a failure of policy. It’s a failure of character.

Eby’s Reputation Won’t Recover

Here’s the political cost—and it’s steep.

David Eby has worked to carefully cultivate a brand: thoughtful, principled, progressive, decisive. A guy you can trust to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. But this? This is cynical, gutless, and totally out of step with the values he claims to represent.

It’s not just the ferries that are leaving port. It’s Eby’s credibility—and it might never come back.

Because if you’re willing to sell out BC workers today, what’s next? Housing construction? Transit infrastructure? Will we outsource those to the lowest global bidder too?

This decision tells working people across the province: don’t count on this government to have your back.

Cancel the Contract. Save the Jobs.

There’s only one way out of this mess:

Cancel the contract. Bring the work home.

And don’t stop there. Launch an immediate plan to support BC’s shipbuilding sector—cut the taxes and fees that make it harder to compete, invest in training and innovation, and make local work the rule, not the exception.

We don’t need to send taxpayer dollars to China to build a ferry. We need to send a message: if it’s funded by the people of BC, it should be built by the people of BC.

That’s not nationalism. That’s common damn sense.

If you’re as mad as I am, don’t just shout into the void. Email your MLA. Talk to your neighbours. Share this post. Let’s not let this ferry sail quietly into the night.

It’s time to bring our jobs—and our dignity—back to British Columbia.