Ethics for thee, offshore contracts for me

Recently, B.C.’s attorney general Niki Sharma told business leaders that who they do business with reflects their values and that companies should weigh the ethical implications of their commercial relationships.

Fair enough. Ethics matter.

But when cabinet ministers lecture British Columbians about ethical business, they’re inviting the same scrutiny of their own decisions.

Here’s the reality under Sharma and Premier David Eby: instead of building four new BC Ferries vessels in Canada, the province let the contracts go to a state-owned shipyard in China.

China’s a one-party state without fair elections. There’s no independent labour movement. Human rights concerns are well documented.

By law, Chinese workers can only be represented by one union organization, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Workers can’t form their own unions. Strikes aren’t protected. Labour activists face pressure and detention. Safety enforcement varies widely.

Offshore ferry procurement represents more than $1 billion in economic activity leaving Canada, along with up to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs. That’s not just shipyard jobs. That’s Canadian steel, fabrication, marine systems, engineering and the whole supply chain that feeds vessel construction.

When ferries are built overseas, those jobs, tax revenues and skills go with them.

These decisions don’t just affect Canadian workers. It’s worth asking whether our dollars should be supporting systems that don’t reflect the labour standards and rights Canadian workers expect at home.

It’s  fair for union members to ask: why is there louder concern about a private real estate deal than about public contracts that send union jobs and public dollars offshore?

If ethics matter in private business, they should matter just as much in public procurement. Otherwise, workers hear one message and see another.