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Subsidizing would help

Editor: I would like to respond to Keith Maxwell’s letter in regard to the Polish shipyard getting the ferry contract (Coast Reporter, July 18).

Editor:

I would like to respond to Keith Maxwell’s letter in regard to the Polish shipyard getting the ferry contract (Coast Reporter, July 18).

He conveniently overlooked the fact that the European shipyards are being subsidized by the European Union. Remontova can expect up to a six per cent subsidy, particularly if it builds a fuel efficient ship like the LNG powered ferry. The EU has decided to subsidize the European shipbuilding industry so they can stay competitive in the international market, particularly from the threat of South Korean shipyards.

I submit that if the Canadian and B.C. governments were to subsidize our shipyards to the tune of six per cent, then we might be able to keep the shipbuilding jobs here in B.C. as well. By not doing so, the Canadian governments have indeed chosen to export our shipbuilding jobs to those countries who do.

Of course the mistake of our shipbuilding industry is that they are building vessels. If they were involved in the oil/gas extraction and transport business, the sky would be the limit. The laser-like focus on the oil and gas sector by the Conservative and provincial Liberal governments excludes all other industries. They are being sacrificed on the altar of oil and gas.

Klaus Blume, Gibsons