Federal politicians convened in Ottawa Friday for what was supposed to be a reckoning over BC Ferries’ $1-billion China shipbuilding deal. But instead it became a masterclass in buck-passing, bureaucratic dodgeball and curated helplessness.

MPs on the transport committee heard from cabinet ministers and CEOs suddenly rendered impotent on the issue of doing business with an authoritarian regime currently imposing crippling sanctions on Canada’s seafood sector, interfering with its elections and arming its enemies.

All expressed concern that a deal like this could happen with a hostile nation, while also insisting they were powerless to stop it.

“I'm very disappointed by the decision,” Housing Minister Gregor Robertson told the committee.

Robertson oversees the Canada Infrastructure Bank providing the $1-billion loan.

“CIB is independent,” he said. “There is no political interference in the decisions made by the board of the CIB.”

CIB’s CEO, Ehren Cory, professed surprise at all the controversy, saying the Crown corporation is merely loaning money to BC Ferries, and where the ferry corporation chooses to spend that money is not the bank’s concern.

“That wasn't part of our analysis, it wasn't part of the decision made on the loan, because our loan is about benefiting the B.C. customers, the 23 million people or so who use the service,” said Cory.

Transportation Minister Chrystia Freeland declared similar helplessness.

“I am dismayed by this procurement,” she said. But BC Ferries “is not an entity under the authority of Transport Canada,” she claimed.

The feckless performances were easy pickings for opposition MPs.

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