“All bets are off,” said B.C. Premier David Eby on Tuesday morning, the same day President Donald Trump’s U.S. tariffs came into effect.
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Here’s a full transcript of his comments.
Good morning, everybody.
I know, it’s unusual to have a special guest at a budget lock up. Thanks for joining us this morning. These are unusual times.
This morning, the people of Ukraine woke up to news that their military backer, the United States, was ending assistance to them — or pausing it, at least — threatening to hand that country over to a dictator whose brutality and whose war of aggression and invasion, apparently, is being rewarded by the United States.
This is a massive shift in global politics, and it is deeply disturbing to everyone who values freedom, democracy, sovereignty and the global order that has ensured prosperity for so many people around the globe for generations.
It does put into perspective the news that many Canadians woke up to this morning: that our closest friend and ally and trading partner, with whom we have worked for generations to intertwine our economies, to raise the standard of living, to support families on both sides of the border, families that move across the border in terms of relationship, in terms of love, in terms of businesses — that order that we depend on is also directly under threat and frankly, has been betrayed.
When the President raised the issue of tariffs, as he said, it was about fentanyl at the border. Canada and all the provinces worked together to respond to the President’s demands in good faith. That was really what this was about. I would say that, without a doubt, the President’s demands were met and yet, it did not matter. Didn’t work because obviously, that’s not what this is about. It’s about something else.
As the President has repeated many times, he wants to make Canada the 51st state. Canada will never be the 51st state. We didn’t ask for this fight that the President has brought to Canada and to British Columbia, but I’ll tell you this: we’re not going to shrink from it.
The President wants to hurt Canadians. He wants to hurt British Columbians. Then we have no choice but to respond in kind. Our response is pretty straightforward. It’s a message to Americans about what this is going to cost them. Everything from the cost of pasta, to the cost of a home or a car, or to turn on the lights or to fill up a tank of gas is going to go up in a way that is noticeable and significant for American families.
For Americans who work in manufacturing, the factories that you work in, the inputs that you use to make the things that are sold around the world have just become significantly less competitive. Your jobs will be taken by people living in countries other than the United States who have access to the raw materials that Canada provides without tariffs.
Our response is also to use the market power that we have as British Columbians to send a message. We’re not as big a powerful market as the United States, but there are many American jobs that depend on the purchases made by British Columbians and by Canadians.
Effective immediately, our liquor stores will be pulling all red state liquor products off of the shelf. This is a deliberate decision to target red state liquor products, a bit of a message in it: We understand who’s attacking us. We understand where this is coming from, and we want to send a message particularly to those governors, to those Congress people. When they hear from their constituents about this, they have a chance to stand up to the President and to point out that jobs in their communities are dependent on a good relationship with Canada.
For procurement, for everything that the government buys, whether it’s Crown corporation, health authorities, core government, we’ll be buying Canadian first, and we’ll be prioritizing B.C. products. This is something that we can’t do ordinarily because of trade agreements with the United States. We have to treat their products like ours when we’re purchasing as a government, otherwise it’s a trade violation. Well, obviously, all bets are off.
Finally, we’re going to make sure that there’s some support in place for B.C. businesses that enables them to pivot to global and domestic markets here in Canada in response to this threat, as well as for individuals who are affected in industries in the province. The federal government has committed that the revenues from tariffs that they announced this morning will be redistributed to businesses and individuals to provide that support. We’ll make sure that happens, and as a province, we’ll fill in the blanks wherever there’s an area of concern that we have, that isn’t being addressed by the federal government. We’ll make sure that we’re there.
We know, though, that the best way to respond to the threat — well, now the tariffs that are being imposed on us by the president — is to grow our economy, to find ways to accelerate growth even in the face of these tariffs. That’s why we’re accelerating major projects across the province to ensure that across the province, especially in more rural and remote areas of province that are going to be more affected by these tariffs, that there are good jobs to support those communities and support families. We’re going to do it in partnership with Indigenous people, we’re going to do it consistent with our environmental commitments, but we’re going to do it a heck of a lot faster.
We’re working in close partnership with business leaders, with labour leaders, with Indigenous leaders at multiple tables. We have a tariff table for the entire province. We have a soft wood lumber advisory table for that industry, which will be particularly hard hit. We have an agricultural table that is assisting us in responding to these tariffs, while ensuring that we’re doing everything we can keep food costs down for British Columbians, as the value of the Canadian dollar goes down, and also that we ensure food security in the event that the president decides to attack Canada in different ways. The conversations that we never thought we would have, we’re having them today.
British Columbians have an important role to play as well. When you’re at the grocery store, you have a chance to buy B.C., buy Canadian. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear Canadian businesses like Windset Farms, a huge greenhouse operator, talk about the spike in business that they’ve seen from British Columbians and Canadians buying Canadian products first. We can keep that going.
If you have a choice about where to travel, to avoid travelling to the United States, to choose to visit, somewhere in Canada or somewhere else in the world. Today is our chance as Canadians, as British Columbians, to send a message as well.
Now we’re in a strange moment where what worked in the past, committing to address areas of shared concern with our partner, the United States, is met with threats to our sovereignty and as troubling as that is, as disturbing as that is, the silver lining of it, and the amazing thing that we’ve seen is, that it has brought out a sense of pride,
a sense of courage, and a sense of solidarity among all Canadians right now we haven’t seen for a long time.
I don’t know how you felt when you saw McDavid score. That guy has never been my favourite player. Man, I loved that guy in that moment. There was a moment this morning at breakfast, I ran into a woman, and she pulled me aside, a little bit older, and she said, “My dad was a World War Two vet.” And she said, “If he was here, he would tell you, don’t let the bastards grind you down. You’re big enough to stand on your own two feet. Go and fight.” And I think that’s a great message for all of us here in Canada.
We’re big enough to stand on our own two feet. This is a moment for us to take an attack and turn it into a source of strength for ourselves as a province and as a country. There is nowhere else in the world I would rather be than in Canada and in British Columbia to face this tariff threat. We have the resources that the world needs: cheap, clean electricity; critical minerals; lumber; agricultural products; tourism experiences you can’t even imagine. It’s all right here at British Columbia.
We are situated in a place that faces the major markets of the world across the Pacific. We’re the gateway to the Pacific, for the entire country and the people of this province, of this country. We are strong, we are tough, we are resilient, and we are exceptional, and we are ready to meet this moment together. We’ll ensure that Canada remains the true north, strong and free, that we will meet this moment with dignity, with courage, resolute in our willingness to stand up for what we believe in, to partner with people who share our values around the world,
and to lead the way in a moment of great uncertainty and for some people, significant fear.
People need Canada right now. They need British Columbia right now, and we’ll be there to deliver for them.
Thank you so much for being here on an important day for our province, on budget day. Our finance minister will present her budget, which is in this context of a changing world. And every one of you in this room and everybody watching at home is a key part of our success going forward.
We’re pulling together, we’re gonna fight, we’re going to win. Thank you very much.