B.C. premier says feds and premiers have right-left strategy to tackle Trump tariffs

Premier David Eby looks into the legislative assembly before start of the oath ceremony at the legislature in Victoria, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

British Columbia Premier David Eby says his fellow premiers and the federal government have hatched a game plan to fight U.S. tariffs, with conservative premiers lobbying Republican counterparts, left-leaning provincial leaders courting the Democrats, and Ottawa focusing on president-elect Donald Trump.

The premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about using their political diversity and connections to thwart the prospect of Trump's proposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, Eby said Thursday in a year-end interview.

He said it was discussed that conservative premiers Danielle Smith in Alberta, Doug Ford in Ontario and Nova Scotia's Tim Houston are well-placed to lobby Republican governors and business leaders.

Eby said as a New Democrat he will likely have more in common with Democrat governors and business leaders from the West Coast states.

"I can easily have conversations with governors and businesses down the West Coast of the U.S., where we have close relationships and our politics are very similar," he said.

"Premier Smith can have conversations with Republican governors. That would be more challenging for me, and (she) would have more connections potentially with the Trump administration than an NDP administration in B.C. would."

He said a meeting last week between the premiers and Trudeau discussed Canada's diversity of representation, and how it could bring leverage and advantages in tariff talks.

"It's interesting, there was a lot of talk about what unity means in terms of Canada's response to the tariffs," he said.

"There's obviously a diversity of views around the Council of the Federation table of all the premiers. Certainly, mine is not the same as Premier Smith's or Premier Ford's or Premier Houston's, and that diversity of views is actually potentially a significant strength for us as we enter into these discussions."

Eby also said he was prepared to appear on American's right-leaning Fox News TV network, as did premiers Ford and Smith.

"Anything that I can do to support the national effort to protect the families in Canada from the impact of tariffs and also families in the U.S. from those unjustified tariffs," he said. "Absolutely, if I thought it was helpful."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.