BC Ferries

"The hypocrisy is quite sickening"

By on • ( 8 Comments )

Paraphrasing Benjamin Disraeli’s words to the British Parliament in 1845:

The BC Liberal government is an organized hypocrisy.

I visited the BC Liberal website today and found this homepage. The frame from the lower right corner is extracted.

“Our Ship Building Contract” they said, although they were celebrating the federal government buying BC built ships. The Liberal provincial government was not so enthused about shipbuilding in 2005 after David Hahn placed his order for new ships in Germany.

From Hansard in 2005, NDP member Gary Coons speaking:

…our valued B.C. shipbuilders took a real hit when the contract for the three new ferries worth $325 million and providing 4,500 person-years of employment was cast over to a highly subsidized foreign corporation.

Not only that, but during the election campaign it was revealed that B.C. Ferries awarded a contract to an overseas company with no public tendering process whatsoever. The $800,000 lifeboat contract went to an Australian company, beating out the traditional supplier from Richmond who had been supplying these for over 20 years.

From Hansard in 2007, when Liberal Kevin Falcon talked about the Liberal decision to purchase new ferries in Germany:

“…The members opposite fought viciously against that, were appalled by that decision and said that this was a travesty, that we must politically interfere and insisted that they be built in the local shipyards…”

So not long ago, Liberals, led by now Deputy Premier Falcon, had rather little regard for our shipbuilding capabilities.

Michael Smyth wrote about Liberal hypocrisy recently in The Province:

It’s amazing — and somewhat galling — listening to Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals going ga-ga over the federal shipbuilding contract when this is the same bunch that gave away our own shipbuilding work to Germany.

…But the majority of Liberals patting themselves on the back for the federal contract today kicked B.C. shipbuilders in the keester back then.
That includes Christy Clark, who supported building our ferries in Germany. It was right to reject Vancouver Shipyards for the work, she argued, because parent company Seaspan wanted an open-ended “cost-plus” contract where they could run up the price tag at will.

That was denied at the time by Seaspan chairman Kyle Washington.

“We’re absolutely willing to bid a bonded, fixed-price cost, so there would be no financial risk to the government,” Washington said. “All we’re asking for is a chance to submit a bid.”

But Seaspan was not allowed to bid on the ferry contract, something Clark supported. So did cabinet ministers Blair Lekstrom and Pat Bell, both now so giddy about Seaspan winning the federal contract.

…The hypocrisy is quite sickening.

Categories: BC Ferries, Clark, Christy

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8 replies »

  1. Speaking of contracts and government bidding processes, CBC Radio's news show, The Current, had a very interesting segment today about the corruption in the Quebec construction industry.

    http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/11/28/investigating-quebecs-construction-industry/

    The parallels with BC Rail are striking: rigged bids, government officials colluding with major crime organizations, billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars lost, the premier implicated, the list goes on.

    The Quebec inquiry will be a two-year probe going back as far as 15 years. The story was broken by a rookie freelance journalist and a government whistleblower. Oh, that we in BC could be so blessed.

    It begs the question why, if Quebec can initiate such a public inquiry, why won't the BC government initiate a public inquiry into the BC Rail bidding process?

    And they call Quebec the corrupt province. Ha! BC rivals Quebec in everything but mainstream media coverage.

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  2. Thanks NVG. You are correct, of course it was Falcon, not Hansen as I first wrote.. Whenever i get angry at BC Liberals over matters of honesty and ethics, the name Hanson just comes to mind, complete with that little smirk of superiority that goes with his lying..

    I corrected the article

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  3. The Washington Marine Group changed their name to SeaSpan. Was not the WMG the outfit Christy's brother Bruce was involved with, as a lobbyist? I think there was a BCR connection. I have to go back and search.

    I'm wondering, if SeaSpan is an American company, could they not bring their own ship builders? An American company won the contract, to tear down the smelter in Kitimat. They brought their own staff with them.

    It is also said. China has sent their people to school, to learn English. They will work the coal mine, at Murray River.

    I'm wondering if the seven mines in Northern BC, are foreign owned and will bring their own miners?

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  8. The government's behaviour is not only reprehensible, disgusting and nausiating, it shows just how corrupt and dishonest the whole BC Liberal party are. Of course, our disgraced former premier Gordon “Pinocchio” Campbell DUI leads the list of thieves and liars, but the rest of the BC Liberal party MLAs are very close behind.

    Never in my 67 years have I seen or heard of public figures in government, act in such a disgusting manner – unless of course, one would go back to the 1930's in Europe (Germany, Italy, Russia).

    Thanks for more confirmation on the odious and contemptous actions of the provincial three ringed circus called “the BC Liberal” government.

    It would surely warm the heart to see each and every BC Liberal MLA be sent to “Harpers” prisons, to do time with hardened criminals and sex offenders ! Just imagine, justice then would be seen to have been done 🙂

    Thanks.

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