Conflict of interest
written all over offshore B.C. ferry deal
Federal Industry
Minister David Emerson, former B.C. Ferries chairman, has been
asked to waive $125 million in federal import duties
Victoria - B.C.
Ferries, the privatized and unaccountable corporation created by
Premier Gordon Campbell and his provincial Liberals to run the
West Coast ferry system, has awarded a $542 million contract for
three new ferries to German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau.
B.C. Ferries stacked the deck for the contract by eliminating all
other potential bidders from the process. |
 |
|
Federal Industry Minister David Emerson and B.C. Ferries President
David Hahn |
The
deal, which leaves B.C. shipyards and workers high and dry, has the
full approval of Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell and, it now appears,
the federal Liberal government of Paul Martin as well.
If the massive outsourcing contract goes ahead as planned, it will not
only be a major blow to the B.C. economy, it will also end up costing
federal taxpayers approximately $125 million in lost import duties on
foreign-built ships.
Ottawa has already been asked by B.C. Ferries to waive import duties
to make the deal viable. If the fix was not already in, it is doubtful
that the contract would have been announced.
David
Emerson
Unfortunately, for Canadians, the request to approve the waiver has
been made to David Emerson, the new federal industry minister,
hand-picked by Martin to run in Vancouver Kingsway in the last
election.
Emerson has a major conflict of interest in the case because he
happens to be a former chairman of B.C. Ferries and has close
connections to David Hahn, the American CEO recruited by Campbell and
the Liberals as the new head of B.C. Ferries.
Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton, who was in Victoria to attend a rally
Friday, denounced the contract as reprehensible and disgusting,
calling it a sad day for B.C. shipyards and workers.
Layton has promised to take the fight to the House of Commons in an
effort to prevent the federal government from approving the B.C.
Ferries request.
(NUPGE)
Web posted by NUPGE:
19 September 2004
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