Thanks to Les Leyne and the Times 91原创 for continuing the discussion about whether to build new ferries in B.C. or to export the jobs. The issue isn鈥檛 just about the three new vessels that B.C. Ferries needs within three years, but even more importantly, the total of 15听new ferries that must be built over the next 20 years.
Ferry designs are being standardized to create cost economies and to give ferries the flexibility to work on a number of different routes. This means whichever shipyard wins the contract has the inside track for the rest of B.C. Ferries鈥� replacement program, amounting to more than $2 billion in spending.
If the B.C. government does not intervene, all of this spending could be lost to our shipyards and economy. And so will the jobs (many of which could be here in the Victoria area) and provincial tax revenues generated directly and indirectly.
Intervention must happen quickly. Premier Christy Clark was slow to recognize the economic benefits to B.C. of the federal shipbuilding contract. The time to raise alarm bells about the shipbuilding contracts is not after they have been tendered and awarded.
B.C. firms will be competitive, but if retaining $2听billion in spending to the B.C. economy is a policy objective worth considering, wouldn鈥檛 it be foolish to simply stand by and hope for the best?
Motherhood statements about the province being 鈥渟upportive鈥� of ferries being built in B.C. are meaningless 鈥� incentives have to be included in the bidding process. This does not mean that bidding has to be restricted only to B.C. firms.
For example, local-content provisions could be included in requests for proposals, in addition to factors such as price and capacity to do the job. This would at least increase the chances for a successful local bid. But even if a non-B.C. firm won the contract, with local content requirements, it would have to provide some local benefits, perhaps even partner with a local firm.
B.C. New Democratic Party transportation critic Claire Trevena and I determined in questioning the minister of transportation that there is no local-content provision in the expression-of-interest documents. We also asked the minister of jobs whether the government had even analyzed the potential benefits to the B.C. economy of building ferries in B.C. Her answer was to 鈥渁sk the minister of transportation.鈥�
Round and round we go. While a fiscally conservative federal government has decided it is good public policy to build tens of billions of dollars worth of naval vessels in Canada, our provincial (鈥淛obs R Us鈥�) government sticks its head in the sand 鈥� not even curious about the potential economic benefits of adopting a similar strategy in B.C.
The funny thing is, Clark apparently thinks it is great news that the federal government has decided some of its shipbuilding should be done in B.C., and, in fact, stated before the May election that we should not only build our own ferries here in B.C., we should build them for other countries, too.
So aside from the fact that the election is over, why isn鈥檛 the premier acting on this?
听
Gary Holman is the New Democrat MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and deputy critic for B.C. Ferries.
