B.C. government introduces legislation giving itself sweeping powers to deal with U.S. trade threats

The B.C. government has introduced legislation that would give itself sweeping powers to respond to threats from U.S. tariffs and their impact on the provincial economy

If passed, it would allow the government to respond without first having to go through the B.C. Legislature for debate.

Premier David Eby said the response is necessary given the unpredictable nature of the Trump presidency and its potential impact on British Columbians.

"He has no regard for the chaos that he's causing," Eby said, referring to Trump. "We feel this is part of his strategy to hurt the Canadian economy and to force us into his vision of annexation into the United States of America, redrawing our borders and [getting] access to our water."

Attorney General Niki Sharma said the Economic Stabilization Tariff Response Act, tabled earlier on Thursday, would be temporary and would expire no later than "mid-2027."

Among the changes already announced would be the ability to toll commercial vehicle travel between Washington state and Alaska, removing interprovincial trade barriers and redirecting government purchasing to exclude U.S.-based vendors, which Eby said amounts to "at least" $600 million annually.

He also mentioned a decision shared earlier in the day to no longer allow Tesla products to be eligible for government subsidy programs.

Legislation for emergencies only, premier says

Sharma said the proposed legislation would not give the government the ability to approve new natural resource projects without permits or environmental assessments, nor would it lift the requirement for consultation with Indigenous communities.

She said it was framed in such a way that it could only be used in response to actions from foreign powers that severely threaten the B.C. economy.

Sharma also said the tools would not be used "unless the U.S. forces our hand."

Despite these assurances, B.C. Conservative Party and official Opposition Leader John Rustad decried the proposed legislation as "overreach," posting to social media that it would give "B.C.'s already authoritarian top-down NDP government sweeping, almost unlimited powers."

Asked whether he was setting up a system that gave him the same sort of broad-based powers that he criticized the White House for, Eby said checks are in place but he wants to be blunt about the type of scenarios he is preparing for, laying out a possible timeline where the United States "rips up the Columbia River treaty," which manages the shared stewardship of waterways responsible for generating about half of the hydropower used in B.C. The U.S. walked away from talks earlier this week.

Eby said if that were to happen, electricity to B.C. could be shut down and "we will have to take some pretty dramatic action in a very short period of time."

"We see this as emergency legislation," he said, comparing it to the authority governments need when responding to natural disasters like floods and fires.

"If we didn't have this, people would say: why didn't you respond?" he said.

"Sadly, I do need these authorities to make sure that we're able to respond in an emergency and, frankly, I can see it coming like a freight train."