Eby says ‘unfairness needs to be addressed’ when it comes to federal ferry funding

By Canadian Press on September 18, 2025.

OTTAWA — British Columbia Premier David Eby says concerns over a federal loan being used to buy ferries from a Chinese company are “bizarre” given the amount of money Ottawa spends on ferries in Eastern Canada.

The premier is in Ottawa for a series of meetings including with newly appointed Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, where he says the topic of ferries was discussed.

Eby was asked about a report in The Globe and Mail that Transport Canada had weeks of warning before BC Ferries announced in June that it was buying four ships from the state owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards.

Then-transport minister Chrystia Freeland criticized the deal after it became public, saying she was “dismayed” by the BC Ferries’ decision.

Canada Infrastructure Bank loaned BC Ferries $1 billion to finance the purchase of the vessels before Freeland’s criticisms.

Eby says he’s disappointed there hasn’t been more emphasis on what he calls “the incredibly unfortunate treatment” of ferry users in British Columbia compared with those in Eastern Canada.

“The fact that the federal government paid for an entire ferry built at the same (Chinese) shipyard for Eastern Canada, and that it is somehow a problem that BC Ferries users get access to a low interest loan, is bizarre,” he said.

“It is a situation where B.C. ferry users get, on average, $1 in federal subsidy, while eastern ferry users get $300 in federal subsidies. And so as a result, that disparity and that unfairness needs to be addressed.”

The Ala’suinu ferry was built by Weihai Shipyards and began sailing last year between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.