David Eby among premiers heading to Washington to tamp down Trump tariff threat
Trump threatens to use economic force to make Canada the 51st state, promises substantial tariffs on Canada
British Columbia Premier David Eby says he and his counterparts from across Canada will take leadership in the fight against threatened tariffs from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
Eby says he and other premiers plan to go to Washington, where Trump will be inaugurated this month, to try to convince him to back away from his tariff plan.
It comes on the same day that Trump threatened to use economic force to make Canada the 51st state and promised substantial tariffs on Canada and Mexico in his first news conference since his election win was certified.
But with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that he will resign once a new Liberal leader is chosen, Eby says leadership on the tariff issue has fallen to the premiers.
Eby said the provincial and territorial leaders have a meeting scheduled Wednesday to discuss how they can co-ordinate, in light of this week's announcement that Trudeau will give up his post once a new Liberal leader is chosen.
"Given the state of the federal government currently, the leadership on this file has come from the premiers across Canada, and so we're going to continue to do that work," he said.
Eby said the premiers will make the case that the proposed tariffs "will mean a significant increase in prices for Americans" on costs like homes and electricity.
A date for the trade mission has not been set.
The premier told a news conference in Vancouver that the tariffs are "totally unjustified" and the issues at the border can be addressed without such duties.
He says the tolls would also mean significant cost increases for Americans.
While we didn’t always agree, I want to thank Justin Trudeau for his service.<br><br>We worked on many important issues including partnering to lower the cost of childcare for families.<br><br>Today, we must come together to protect Canadian workers and businesses against US tariff threats.
—@Dave_Eby"It makes no sense to punish both Americans and Canadians to address that issue. We can do it together," Eby said Tuesday.
It is a federal responsibility to show strong leadership in addressing border issues, but "given the state of the federal government currently, the leadership on this file has come from the premiers across Canada," he said.
The House of Commons in Ottawa is prorogued until March 24, with many expecting a new Liberal leader to be in place before then.
B.C. members of the legislature are not expected to be back in the house until mid-February.
Eby said there's "no question" the legislature would be called back immediately if there's a need to co-ordinate with Ottawa on a response to tariffs.
"So, if a retaliation measure, for example, required provincial legislation, or if there were a co-ordinated border initiative that required provincial legislation, we wouldn't hesitate," he said.
"No proposals like that have been made yet. We'll be having discussions this Wednesday with premiers from across Canada to ensure that we're co-ordinating. And I hope that even despite the resignation of the prime minister, the federal government is able to participate in meaningful ways with us moving forward."