Ottawa wades into ferry terminal row
Federal gov’t would block Alaskan project at Prince Rupert over Buy American policy
OTTAWA — The federal government is threatening to throw a wrench into Alaska’s plans to build a ferry terminal at Prince Rupert exclusively with American steel and iron.
International Trade Minister Ed Fast said Canada took a rare step Monday when it signed a legal order to block the state of Alaska from imposing the Buy American policy on the project.
“We have been clear: The application of protectionist Buy America provisions on Canadian soil is unacceptable and an affront to Canadian sovereignty,” Fast said after the Canadian government signed the order under the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act.
The law opens the door for Canadian authorities to prevent anyone in Canada from complying with the project’s Buy American provisions.
The Alaska Marine Highway System has operated the ferry terminal since 1963; the project’s call for tenders is to close this week.
In November, an official for the system said the $15-million US Prince Rupert contract had to comply with Buy American provisions because the funding came from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
If the process moves forward with the Buy American policy, the Canadian government could exercise the order against the winning contractor and any violations could lead to police investigations.
Fast said he has urged Alaska to seek a waiver that would remove the protectionist barrier.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said he has been in communication with Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S.
“I think we’ll get through this,” Walker said. “It’s a little bit of a bump in the road, as far as that project, but ‘Buy America’ is there for a reason, when it’s our funds.”
The previously delayed bid opening for the project was pushed back again last week, from this coming Wednesday to Friday.
Walker said he wasn’t sure if it would be pushed back again.
A spokesman in Fast’s office said the only other time the federal government used the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act was in 1992, after the U.S. tried to restrict trade between Cuba and U.S.-owned subsidiaries based in Canada.