VICTORIA - The head of BC Ferries welcomes plans to expand Canada's shipbuilding industry, but says future vessel procurements must be "free from political interference" after lessons learned from the so-called fast ferry scandal of the 1990s.

Nicholas Jimenez, BC Ferries president, says his organization always prefers to build new ferries at home, but any financially responsible program must meet "certain realities," including local shipbuilding capacities, fixed costs, guaranteed delivery dates, and an "open and competitive" process to avoid past mistakes.

The B.C. New Democrat government of former premier Glen Clark wanted to revive local shipbuilding by ordering three catamaran-style fast ferries at a cost of $210 million, only to see their final costs rise to $463 million.

The vess

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