The Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing a $1 billion loan to BC Ferries to purchase four new vessels from a Chinese state-owned shipyard, a move that has sparked concern among federal and provincial politicians alike.
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), a federal Crown corporation, made the announcement on June 26, saying the below-market-rate financing provided to BC Ferries will help reduce future fare increases and support the modernization of the ferry operator’s fleet.
The update comes after federal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland asked her British Columbia counterpart Mike Farnworth in a letter last week to “verify and confirm with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition of these new ferries.”…