NDP convention delegates call on their own government to build ferries in B.C.

VICTORIA — Delegates attending the convention of British Columbia’s New Democrats have called on their own government to build ferries in Canada and “prioritize” shipyards in B.C.

The appeal comes in form of a resolution backed by the BC Federation of Labour and BC Building Trade among others, and follows BC Ferries’ decision to contract a shipyard owned by China’s communist government to build four new major vessels, with BC Ferries citing costs and a lack of local capacity for the decision.

Brynn Bourke, executive director of BC Building Trade, says the provincial shipping industry has reached what she calls an “inflection point” in pointing to the political support that the shipping industries in Germany and Poland receive from their respective governments.

Bourke says B.C. “must act