Flanked by two Prince George MLAs on Monday, July 7, Opposition Leader John Rustad asserted his party’s commitment to building public projects in BC in the wake of a BC Ferries contract being awarded to a Chinese shipbuilder.
Last month, BC Ferries announced it would commission China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards to build for new major vessels after no Canadian shipbuilders entered bids.
The exact value of the contract was not disclosed, with the Crown corporation saying in a June 10 release that “disclosing the total construction cost could compromise BC Ferries’ ability to secure the best value on future vessel procurements.”
Speaking at Prince George-Valemount Conservative MLA Rosalyn Bird’s downtown Prince George office on July 7, Rustad said BC needs to make sure jobs stay within the province.
“Obviously, the contract for ferries in China is a huge issue,” Rustad said, with both Bird and Prince George-Mackenzie Conservative MLA Kiel Giddens beside him.
“We should be doing everything we can building and support those jobs right here in British Columbia.”
To put itself first, Rustad cited several things BC should do, including selling natural gas to the United States at an 80 per cent discount, expediting natural resources projects and awarding taxpayer-funded contracts to bidders within the province.
He said his party is signing a “Build BC” pledge to advance these issues.
Behind the three MLAs was a board they all eventually signed, saying that to strengthen BC’s economy, they would push to:
- Keep projects local
- Stop sending taxpayer-funded jobs offshore
- Hire BC workers and skilled trades
- Empower BC businesses
- Strengthen industry capacity and put BC families and industries first
Bird said in the last few years, northern BC has seen curtailments and closures in the natural resources sector affecting communities like Prince George, Chetwynd, Fraser Lake and Bear Lake.
“And so supporting this pledge and supporting jobs, staying in BC and being built in BC is extremely important,” Bird said. “I would encourage the stakeholders in the area, whether it’s the Home Builders’ Association, the (Northern Regional Construction Association), the (Independent Contractors and Businesses Association) to also share our messages and get it out there that we are here to support jobs in British Columbia.
Giddens and Rustad said there have been record numbers of young people leaving British Columbia and we need to keep them for jobs both across the province and Prince George.
In June 2024, the Angus Reid Institute published results stating that 36 per cent of people surveyed said they were considering leaving BC because of the cost of housing. Isolating results to men and women aged 18 to 34, about half said they were considering leaving.
“That’s why we fought hard for the Tidewater refinery, making sure that those jobs stayed here in Prince George,” Giddens said. “The NDP have gone down a path of ideological policymaking, putting politics before people. We’re going to put workers first.”
Late last year and earlier this year, Giddens pushed for the provincial government to make changes to subsidies granted to foreign producers of renewable diesel after Tidewater Renewables said that American companies getting subsidies in both the U.S. and Canada made it difficult for them to compete.
The government ultimately chose a different path and changed regulations to address the issue, with Energy Minister Adrian Dix thanking Giddens for his advocacy.
In his role as the party’s labour critic, Giddens said he had recently visited the Seaspan shipyards in Vancouver, adding that he believed that company had the capacity to take on the ferry-building project.
Throughout the summer, Giddens said, the party would be visiting with union leaders, business groups, employers and workers to carry the "Build BC" message.
Taking questions from reporters, Rustad said he didn’t think Premier David Eby and his government had done enough to improve permitting delays in the forestry and mining sectors as he had pledged at this January’s BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George.
Rustad also said he doesn’t think Eby is doing enough to align with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s infrastructure agenda and promises to make Canada an energy superpower.
He pointed to an agreement signed by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford earlier in the day committing to work together to build a bitumen pipeline between their provinces.
While Eby has said there have been no proponents coming forward for an oil pipeline from Alberta to the BC coast, Rustad said it’s a chicken-and-egg scenario as Enbridge has said it might be interested if provincial and federal legislative changes were made to make such a project feasible.
Interjecting, Giddens said this situation is why BC needs a Rustad-led Conservative government.
Though the BC Legislature is currently on break for the summer, the Prince George MLAs said they have some events planned this summer.
One is a meeting between all three Prince George-area MLAs and local small- and medium-sized businesses to discuss their concerns regarding public safety and the economy. Bird and Giddens said they and Prince George-North Cariboo Conservative MLA Sheldon Clare would take the information they learn for use during the next legislative sessions.
The second is an initiative Bird said she and the City of Prince George are working on together to hold a take-back day for unused or expired prescriptions as well as promote local mental health resources.
