Canada

Premier David Eby has refused to intervene and cancel the BC Ferries deal, saying ferry passengers just want new ships as quickly and cheaply as possible. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has expressed disappointment with BC Ferries decision but won’t direct the federal infrastructure bank to cancel the loan

PP absolutely should weigh in on BC ferries. IIRC the last politician who made this a signature issue was the very memorable Glen Clark that everyone is always talking about.

And of course we all remember how that catapulted him to fame, success and a decades-long reign as premiere and how it was definitely not his own petard by which he hoisted himself.

It seems like a trouble-free topic, not at all fraught with consequences should it be mishandled. Given PP's penchant for (giggle) erudite eloquence, and totally not putting his foot in his mouth at the very first picosecond of opportunity, it should be nothin' but net for the guy!

What I'm hearing between these 2 parts of the article is that if Pierre was in charge he'd have BC pay substantially more for the ferries that's already going to cost 1.6B.

“I want to retaliate against Beijing by cancelling this loan and ending this contract.”

Canada’s two largest shipyards, Seaspan and Davie, have both publicly said they couldn’t compete with a country that pays seven times lower wages than Canada, and did not bid because BC Ferries failed to structure the tender to reward local jobs.

Also Rob Shaw is also a terrible reporter.

How come no one made a big deal about Marine Atlantic, an actual federal Crown Corporation, buying their latest ship from the exact same shipyard? The whole reason BC Ferries is technically a "private" company (wholly owned by the government) is to keep the money separate from the government budget. If the government wants to dictate exactly how the company runs, they should re-absorb it (provincially) or properly fund it like transportation in the east (federally).

And for the record, I have no love for the company, but as an Islander we need ferries yesterday and arguing isn't going to get anything built any sooner.

PP and the Fed whine a lot about BC using foreign builders for our Civilian ferries, but they're awfully quiet on how the Fed is shopping around foreign nations to buy things like Military subs and frigates, or the US for our jets...

Who gives a shit if BC's ferries are from China, while the federal government's military vessels are foreign made / likely 'controlled' (in terms of being reliant on them for maintenance / parts and operational items, let alone potential backdoors/faults that they pre-build into them for obvious reasons).

Maybe the assholes who are in charge of our military / protection ought to check their own shit, before yelling at others. Heck, our government can't fuckin run without a Microsoft subscription ffs -- we can't claim sovereignty, when our gov is hopelessly reliant on a subscription to a foreign company to function.