Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Ottawa should respond to China’s latest wave of canola tariffs by cancelling a $1-billion federal loan to BC Ferries for the purchase of Chinese-made vessels.

China announced this week that it is imposing a 75.8-per-cent duty on canola seed in connection to an anti-dumping probe.

In a statement released Wednesday, Mr. Poilievre linked the issue to the BC Ferries loan, which his party has been criticizing for weeks.

The Globe and Mail first reported in June that the federal government’s Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) provided $1-billion in financing for BC Ferries’ plan to buy four ships from Chinese state-owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards and related infrastructure.

“While the federal government says it will stand up for Canadian farmers and industry, it continues to underwrite a $1-billion loan for BC Ferries to buy ships from a state-backed Chinese shipyard that undercuts Canadian companies on environmental standards, worker safety and wages,” Mr. Poilievre said.

“This makes no sense. Canadian workers are capable of building world-class ships, with Canadian steel, aluminum and technology, here at home,” he added, calling on Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson to cancel the loan.

Infrastructure bank CEO defends $1-billion loan to BC Ferries for Chinese boats

The House of Commons committee on transport, infrastructure and communities held a hearing earlier this month focused on CIB’s loan.

Members of Parliament heard testimony from Mr. Robertson, Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, CIB CEO Ehren Cory and BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez.

Ms. Freeland told MPs during the hearing that she was “dismayed by this procurement,” but did not directly respond when asked why she was not clearly calling for the loan to be cancelled.

The infrastructure bank reports to the Infrastructure Minister, and Ms. Freeland said she would restrict her answers to areas under her responsibility.

Mr. Robertson later told MPs that the bank is an arm’s-length organization.

“The CIB is independent of government and makes investment decisions without political interference,” he said.

Opinion: We have to do business with China – get over it

He then said that after he first learned of the loan, he spoke with Mr. Cory, the bank’s CEO, “to see what could be done – or undone, in this case – to maximize the benefit for Canadian workers and shipbuilders.”

Mr. Robertson said he was told that the deal had been executed earlier in the year and could not be turned around.

The minister said he has given the bank direction to focus on supporting Canadian jobs in the future.

He also pointed out that it was BC Ferries, not the bank, that ultimately made the decision to buy the ships from China.

“This procurement happened through BC Ferries. It’s not a decision that the government of Canada had anything to do with,” he said.

Mr. Jimenez, the president and CEO of BC Ferries, told MPs that new ferries are urgently needed and that no Canadian companies bid for the work.

“This was a choice between a foreign bid or no new ferries,” he said. Even if there had been a Canadian bid, Mr. Jimenez said, the ships would have cost more and taken up to a decade longer to build.

Representatives of two Canadian shipyards, Davie and Seaspan Shipyards, have criticized the bidding process, saying the heavy focus on finding the lowest price effectively ruled out Canadian bids.