Latest news with #B.C.Ferries
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- General
- Vancouver Sun
B.C. Ferries search for cat that escaped car en route from Nanaimo to Tsawwassen
B.C. Ferries is asking for help locating a black and white cat that went missing on the Nanaimo to Tsawwassen trip on Saturday. According to a social media post, Luigi was inside a vehicle belonging to his owner on the 10:15 a.m. sailing on Aug. 9 when he escaped through a small window that had been kept open to provide air. A white Labrador was also inside the vehicle. B.C. Ferries does not allow passengers to stay inside vehicles on lower car decks, but does provide a space for people with dogs, and cats in crates. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'Luigi slipped out of a small window opening of his owner's vehicle and disappeared on the lower car deck. Crew on board searched for Luigi with his family and he could not be located,' the B.C. Ferries statement read. 'If you or someone you know was travelling on the 10:15 am sailing on Saturday, August 9 from Duke Point to Tsawwassen on the Coastal Inspiration, please check your vehicles, trailers or boats for Luigi, a black and white tuxedo cat wearing a blue harness.' If you have seen Luigi or know where he may be call 250-720-9999. dcarrigg@
Epoch Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Union Launches Campaign Against BC Ferries' Contract for Chinese-Built Vessels, Urging Domestic Manufacturing
A B.C. workers' union has launched a campaign opposing plans to build four new B.C. Ferries vessels in China and advocating for domestic firms to be prioritized, saying the deal with the foreign shipyard will result in lost Canadian wages, tax revenue, and economic opportunity. The BC Ferry and Marine Workers' Union has launched a campaign called 'Build Them Here,' encouraging citizens to ask the provincial and federal governments to keep shipbuilding contracts in Canada. The union says the recent decision by BC Ferries, a publicly owned ferry operator, to hire a Chinese state-owned shipyard to build four new vessels means public money is being used to support economies abroad instead of creating jobs locally.
CBC
29-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol: Nature Semifinals
Social Sharing The ways different pieces of this province become symbols are as diverse as British Columbia itself — as two entries going head-to-head this week make clear. The Dogwood flower and the gold nugget have, at various times, been arguably the most emblematic pieces of nature in British Columbia. In the 1850s, the discovery of gold along the Fraser River by the Nlaka'pamux people led to tens of thousands of people descending on what was an unceded territory lightly administered by the Hudson's Bay Company. Gold led to riches — and regulations, dreamers — and regulations, and the founding of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. "It was certainly one of the things that started industry in this area, for better or for worse," said Stuart Cawood, the manager of public programming and media for Barkerville, the gold era boomtown near Quesnel that exists in mostly preserved form as a reminder of that era of the province. "The rush has changed. People aren't clamouring like they used to with 35,000 people coming up here, but it's still a very important part of our lives, even if we don't see it in the same way." Of diplomas and logos But if the gold nugget represents the start of B.C.'s colonization and modern history, the Dogwood flower represents the next era, where a young province looked to give meaning and importance to the natural land around them. "It's a case of settler British Columbians trying to make British Columbia home, and they take something like the Dogwood flower, and it fits into a very English esthetic of the country garden," said Forrest Pass, a curator at Library and Archives Canada. Pass said dogwood-mania was so rampant in British Columbia that the Dogwood Protection Act was passed in 1931, making it illegal to pick or cut down the tree without approval, and at one time, a legend spread that the dogwood tree was used to make the cross used in the Crucifixion. WATCH | Dogwood or gold nugget? Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol continues: The province's official flower faces off against an iconic part of local history in round three of the nature quadrant in our Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol. The bloom from the tree was eventually made B.C.'s official flower, and in the second half of the 20th century, became the logo for B.C. Ferries, and former TV station BCTV (now Global News), and was the name given to high school diplomas in this province. "It is a venerable symbol, protected from a very early age, seen as a unique identifier of, at the very least, southern Vancouver Island and B.C. identity," said Pass. Two iconic symbols of British Columbia, both flourishing in different centuries. But which one is best? 14 symbols left in the competition The Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol continues today with two votes on the four remaining entries in the nature section of our friendly summer competition: Dogwood versus the gold nugget, along with the Okanagan cherry against the Western redcedar Tree. After today, the remaining matchups this week are the following: Wednesday: Totem poles vs. Nanaimo bars, Cowichan sweaters vs. Northwest Coast art. Thursday: B.C. flag vs. Terry Fox statues, Ogopogo vs. tree huggers. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals, which begin next week. Voting closes at 10 p.m. PT. May the best symbols advance! Two titans. One winner. Meet the finalists for B.C.'s best tree 6 days ago As the search for B.C.'s best symbol continues, one of today's match-ups is the Battle of the Trees. Which will prevail as B.C.'s favourite West Coast tree: the mighty Douglas Fir or the noble Western Red Cedar?
Vancouver Sun
14-07-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: We're not just outsourcing ships. We're outsourcing opportunity
On June 10, B.C. Ferries announced it would buy four new vessels from a Chinese shipyard. Unsurprisingly, the decision was met with disappointment and frustration. And for good reason. Despite the massive public investment, there is little benefit for B.C. workers, local shipyards and domestic steel producers. Canada's shipbuilding industry has been hollowed out by decades of offshoring. B.C. Ferries hasn't built a large vessel in B.C. in more than 30 years. Instead, contracts have gone to Romania, Germany and Poland. Now the plan is to send Canadian money and jobs to China. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. It's a pattern that speaks to a lack of vision from the provincial and federal governments on domestic shipbuilding. This is a choice. And it's one with consequences. B.C. Ferries claims the decision was made to save money. But they also knew that buying offshore would be cheaper because of a federal tariff exemption on foreign-built ferries granted in 2016. Imported vessels were previously subject to a 25 per cent duty. Waiving that duty makes it impossible for Canadian shipyards to compete with state-subsidized yards in countries with low pay and poor labour standards. At the same time, Ottawa is handing out $1 billion in low-interest loans to support this project, further subsidizing Chinese shipbuilding with Canadian tax dollars. It's hard to square that with the government's goals of supporting skilled trades, domestic industry and economic resiliency. So much for elbows up. We learned during COVID how dangerous it is to rely on global supply chains for essential goods. The same holds true for infrastructure. When we build overseas, we don't just lose shipyard jobs. We lose contracts for Canadian suppliers, materials, steel, parts, vessel recycling and training. Critics like to point out that no Canadian yards bid on the latest major vessel contract, as if that ends the conversation. But that is the result of corporate procurement design and government policy failure, not market failure. Seaspan has been clear: They have the capability. But without a plan, the capacity isn't there. They knew couldn't compete on price alone, and the procurement process didn't give points for Canadian content or local job creation and didn't reward local investment. If we want bids from Canadian shipyards, we need to create the conditions for them to bid. That means long-term planning, political backing and a real industrial strategy, not another shrug. This contract doesn't have to go to China. But it will, because no one planned to keep it here. Public money should deliver public benefits. That means jobs for local workers, training for young people entering the trades and maritime careers and a stronger shipbuilding and recycling sector that can serve our communities for generations. Public submissions to the BC Ferries commissioners on the new vessels overwhelmingly supported local builds. That input was ignored. B.C. Ferries is a private company that spends public money without public accountability. The corporation has two boards: one runs it, one regulates it, but neither seems to answer its only shareholder: the province. How do we fix all this? We need a real shipbuilding strategy with clear targets, timelines and funding to support domestic construction. It would ensure that government-funded projects prioritize Canadian yards, while investing in the tools, people and policies needed to deliver. We need boards that recognize and ensure the public interest is met. Handing this contract to China may save money in the short term. But long term, it's going to cost us much more in lost wages, lost taxes, lost skills training and lost community benefits. We're not just exporting contracts. We're exporting jobs, skills and the future of our own industries. If we don't start building here, there soon might not be anything left to build with. Eric McNeely is president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union.
Vancouver Sun
10-07-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Canada must build to rebuild
Many Canadians are understandably frustrated by B.C. Ferries' $1.2-billion decision to buy four new vessels from China. The situation seems absurd. Canada boasts more ocean coastline and more fresh water than any country. It has a long-standing shipbuilding industry. Yet it has no shipyards able to bid on a domestic procurement contract for B.C. Ferries? The unfortunate truth, we now know, is that the tender was simply not viable for Canadian shipbuilders. B.C. Ferries structured the bidding process to emphasize lowest cost over other considerations that would favour Canadian shipbuilders, such as domestic content requirements. Questions have also been raised about the capacity of B.C. shipyards to bid and compete on one major project without the promise of continuous work. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. To make matters worse, Canadians later learned that the Canada Investment Bank (CIB), a federal Crown corporation, provided $1 billion in low-interest financing for the purchase of the foreign-made vessels, without any binding commitments concerning domestic content. No one was more surprised about this than federal Minister of Transportation and Internal Trade Chrystia Freeland, who wrote to Mike Farnworth, B.C.'s Minister of Public Safety, about her 'great consternation and disappointment' over B.C. Ferries' decision. Apparently, Freeland was unaware the CIB had already committed in March 2025 to finance the purchase. It is essential that Canadians know the reasons behind this procurement policy debacle. On Monday, the federal Transport Committee voted to have cabinet ministers and the chief executive of the CIB explain themselves. We should also use this moment to take a deeper look at Canada's enduring and structural industrial decline and failure to pursue a comprehensive industrial strategy. For decades, an unqualified faith in the free market has hollowed out Canada's industrial base, leaving its manufacturing sector less competitive and dependent on foreign supply chains. At the same time, global overcapacity, dumping and aggressive subsidization of foreign producers by their governments have undercut Canadian producers' ability to compete globally. For example, Seaspan, Canada's major West Coast shipyard, has stated that Canadian companies simply cannot compete for commercial shipbuilding contracts against low-wage countries with lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards. Yet, amid a trade war, with Canadian exports facing punitive tariffs and leaders pledging revitalize domestic supply chains, $1 billion in federal financing goes out the door, no strings attached. The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, for its part, promises a policy of domestic procurement prioritizing Canadian steel and aluminum in nation-building projects and defence. But surely we cannot call for self-reliance while outsourcing critical infrastructure to countries that undercut domestic industry and supply chains through overcapacity, dumping, subsidies and unfair trade. The answer is to start now — strategically, deliberately, and urgently — to rebuild and renew Canada's industrial foundations. That means sustained investment and expansion of manufacturing, building energy sovereignty in conventional and clean energy sources, including long-term order pipelines, enforcing Buy Canadian and Buy Clean procurement policies and, most importantly, developing a national industrial strategy that treats economic resilience and domestic industrial capacity as a matter of national public interest. Canada must also get serious about protecting its domestic market. Critics who naively argue that trade barriers do more harm than good ignore the strategic policy context. Targeted tariffs and other actions designed to insulate and promote domestic industries are key trade policy tools that are most powerful when paired with a broader industrial strategy promoting key sectors and good jobs. In the U.S., under the Biden administration, tariffs were combined with targeted financial support for key sectors under the CHIPS and Inflation Reduction Acts, which spurred billions in investments in new industrial capacity and good union jobs. Canada can no longer sit idly by as the global economy shifts. In a world of rising protectionism and fragile supply chains, building at home is imperative. The next billion-dollar infrastructure project should invest in Canadian capacity, Canadian jobs and Canadian communities — not subsidize foreign competition. Marty Warren is national director of the United Steelworkers union.
