Invoking a Haisla story about a rumoured monster on the Kitimat River that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, Premier David Eby said incoming US President Donald Trump’s economic threats to Canada could end up being a similar situation for British Columbia.
The premier was given the first speaking slot at the kickoff to the 2025 BC Natural Resources Forum on the evening of Jan. 14 so he could start travelling to Ottawa after speaking to attend a meeting of all the country’s premiers as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the next day.
The First Ministers are scheduled to speak about how the country should respond to the 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods that Trump has promised to enact as revenge for the supposed influx of illegal immigrants and drugs flowing south of the border.
In the Haisla story, it turned out that there was no monster but instead an area on the river ripe with oolichan that thousands of seagulls were feasting on. Oolichan are a small, oily fish that are an important part of the diet of many Indigenous peoples on the west coast of North America.
“Right now, this looks like a very scary monster for many families in British Columbia,” Eby said. “But my hope is that we can use this to strengthen our provincial economy in a way that turns out to double our prosperity and increase it for everybody in our province.”
The tariffs, Eby said, will not only be devastating for BC but for Americans as well.
The premier said forestry would be particularly impacted by the tariffs as the sector has already been hit with softwood lumber duties. He credited new forestry minister Ravi Parmar for meeting stakeholders and reviewing BC Timber Sales.
BC’s response to the tariffs, Eby said, will have three key components: respond, strengthen and diversify.
The discussion among the premiers will be how to carry out the first part of that plan across the country.
Eby said BC is ready to support retaliatory tariffs and export bans if necessary. On a more diplomatic front, Eby said he is in regular contact with the governors of Washington, Oregon and Colorado, who will be among a delegation of governors visiting BC soon.
In February, Eby said he will join a delegation of premiers to Washington DC to meet with officials to deliver the message that Canada and America provide the materials needed to keep each others’ economies going.
As an example, he brought up the Teck smelter in Trail. He said it produces metal needed to create electronics like night-vision goggles, a metal that China has recently banned the export of to the United States.
In an interview with The Citizen before the forum officially kicked off, Eby said he and his fellow premiers are “committed to stepping into, frankly, a bit of a vacuum that’s been left by the federal government with the political shifts that are going on there.”
That’s a reference to the recent announcement by Trudeau that he will be stepping down as prime minister once the Liberal party chooses a new leader, which will happen in March. In the meantime, Parliament has also been prorogued.
Though the provinces may have different approaches, Eby said they’re all working towards the same purpose: to protect Canadian jobs and the Canadian Economy while underlining the economic risks to the United States.
Recently, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made waves when she travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to meet with the president-elect directly.
Eby said Smith leveraged her relationships with Republicans to get the meeting.
“I think that’s great for her,” he said. “For me, I’m leveraging relationships with governors down the West Coast and we’ll be meeting with a senator from Washington State so that we can ensure that we’re talking to the companies in their states and their business associations about the impacts that they’re going to see so they can also lobby directly.”
To strengthen and diversify BC’s economy, Eby told the forum that the province’s businesses need to be successful and that will involve “responsible, sustainable development of our natural resources.”
On the government’s end, the premier said he once committed to forum attendees that he would lower permitting times. For mining, he said permitting times have been reduced by 35 per cent.
He also spoke of the need to train the next generation of tradespeople, making sure industrial land is available for development, expanding electricity production, attracting capital investments, reducing other red tape.
With hostility south of the border, Eby said BC needs to expand its economic partnerships with countries in Europe, Asia and other continents and make sure businesses in the province have the infrastructure they need to get their products to those markets.
On that last point, the premier referenced upgrades to Highways 37 and 51 in northwest BC, which he said have improved safety and access to the Galore Creek Copper Mine in the area.
Despite that hostility, the premier said BC firefighters are headed to California to help fight the wildfires that are devastating parts of the Los Angeles area.
“There’s no question we’re having a moment right now with the incoming U.S. administration, but we will always be there when our American neighbours are in need,” Eby said.
“That’s just who we are as Canadians. They’re friends, they are family. We will always be a partner and ally to the United States, but we are also a proud and independent country and while we are proud of our products and they are absolutely for sale, this country is not for sale.”
That last line earned a round of applause from the audience.
In a brief question-and-answer session after his remarks, Eby was asked what his priorities are for natural resources and whether he would share the mandate letters he gave to his cabinet ministers.
On the former point, he said his priorities are those laid out in his speech, especially those around electricity and reducing red tape. He did not say whether he would share the mandate letters.
He also said that BC Hydro has a $10 billion capital projects budget to help expand its services and said that a project to expand the exporting capacity at the Port of Delta might be accelerated given current circumstances.
“The message is quite straightforward,” the premier said at the end of his remarks. “Over the next four years, our government wants to be partners with you in increasing the prosperity of the province and we’re excited to get to work.”
