Premier David Eby wasted no time firing back at U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat late Thursday, taking to social media almost immediately to blast the American president.
Trump posted a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on his social media platforms at 5:17 p.m., announcing “we will charge Canada a tariff of 35% on Canadian products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs.”
It was a dramatic escalation of the trade war with Canada, after a period of relative calm in recent weeks under Carney.
Within two hours, Eby had launched his reply.
“This letter is flailing and factually incorrect. Other F words come to mind,” the premier replied on social media.
“Just one more reminder of why Canadians need to come together, to grow our economy and stand strong. British Columbians are leading the way on that work.”
It was a strong and pithy response. Eby is at his best when fighting a villain like Trump—or even when he takes on Ottawa over what he views as unjust treatment for the province.
Polls have shown the public respected the premier’s leadership during the first round of the tariff dispute. Eby, at points, has led the country in his public denunciation of what he’s described as economic warfare by the Americans.
The flare-ups with Trump also help distract British Columbians from the many, many problems affecting them at home under the BC NDP government.
There’s the eight-week Kelowna hospital pediatric closure, exemplifying the worsening ER closures and multi-hour hospital wait times across the province.
There’s the 11-year-old boy from Courtenay who died waiting in a hospital for treatment. And the 10-year-old girl in Langford set to die a slow, agonizing death because the bureaucracy pulled her medication and the Eby government won’t intervene.
There’s the 32-year-old Kelowna mother beaten to death by a hammer, allegedly by an estranged partner released from court that very day, highlighting the revolving door justice system that has flummoxed the province for two years.
There’s the out-of-control rampant drug, crime, poverty and mental-health crises on Victoria’s Pandora Avenue and in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that have made front-page national headlines.
There’s the federal committee set to force the CEO of government-owned BC Ferries corporation to testify over why it’s buying ships from the brutal, authoritarian Chinese government and why the premier won’t stop it.
On and on we go.
The BC NDP’s domestic agenda is a mess. There, the premier’s popularity is far less robust.
But Trump’s latest salvo presents a reprieve from those problems, at least in the short-term. It’s a political life raft for a flailing administration.
Trump said he’ll levy the 35 per cent tariffs by Aug. 1. He offered the opportunity to lower them “if Canada works with me to stop the flow of fentanyl,” which is an area where B.C. has demanded action as well.
The premier will likely re-convene his tariff task force with business and labour leaders—an exercise that, until now, has produced no results to speak of.
Expect the government to also redouble talk about reducing interprovincial borders, even though a marquee agreement to let Canadians order booze directly from other provinces was quietly delayed this week until at least next spring.
New Democrats will also lean back into Bill 15, its controversial legislation to let cabinet fast-track private infrastructure projects to boost the economy. Public input on regulations opened Thursday.
Bill 15 has infuriated First Nations, but will be easier to push forward if Trump remains hostile.
For the next few weeks, the NDP can pivot back into the comfortable groove of: big Trump talk, little Trump action. Outrage tweets and economic patriotism will be a welcome distraction for New Democrats from the intractable problems facing them right here at home.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for The Orca/BIV. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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