B.C. government’s emergency legislation an overreach, say critics

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B.C. Premier David Eby’s draft bill aimed at giving his province maximum flexibility to respond to an escalation in the trade war with the U.S. includes expansive powers no other province is contemplating, drawing criticism for potential government overreach.

Mr. Eby unveiled the “emergency legislation” late last week as a necessary and nimble tool to inflict retaliatory damage against U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican-controlled states.

The Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act would enable the province to make new rules without passing new legislation and to override any existing laws. Mr. Eby says the legislation could be used to lower barriers to interprovincial trade, to direct public bodies to buy goods and services from outside the U.S., and to impose fees on U.S. commercial vehicles, such as tolling trucks travelling to Republican-led Alaska.

But the Premier’s political opponents have denounced the bill as a power grab, and critics are worrying it is too opaque. Meanwhile, Mr. Eby’s tough talk has led Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan to threaten to devastate Vancouver’s tourism sector by having American cruise ships bypass the Canadian port while en route north to his state.

“Canadians: you don’t want to mess with Alaska and, if you do, we’re gonna work hard on having our cruise ships bypass your ports,” Mr. Sullivan said during an interview earlier this month with an Alaskan talk radio DJ, during which he noted the billion dollars in tourism dollars the industry brings to the Vancouver region each year. “They’re playing a dangerous game here, and I hope they back down.”

Mr. Eby has responded to criticism by saying that his government will only use the extraordinary powers given to it by the legislation as a last resort to protect the economy.

The bill must yet pass through the Legislature, where his party holds a bare majority of 47 seats, and it will be automatically repealed by the end of May, 2027, he noted. But he acknowledged that these powers have, historically, only been invoked by governments during war or in response to devastating natural disasters.

“This is a human-caused disaster – we can see it coming, we don’t know what it is and we need to be able to respond quickly,” he told reporters in Victoria last week.

Premier Eby, please practise democracy

David Eby says provinces need to better co-ordinate their trade-war retaliation

Opposition B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who has sworn his party will try to bring down the NDP government as soon as possible, characterized the proposed law as undemocratic and excessive.

“It lets the NDP do whatever they want with zero legislative oversight, zero opposition, and zero consultation with everyday British Columbians,” he posted on social media.

But with three MLAs leaving Mr. Rustad’s party this month after a dispute over the testimony of residential school survivors, it is unclear whether he and his 40 other MLAs have enough leverage to stop it.

Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky and interim leader of the B.C. Greens, said he is concerned by the “broad, unchecked powers given to cabinet” by the bill, and that his party expects to propose substantial amendments to improve its transparency, accountability and fair economic outcomes.

”There’s no need for secrecy, decisions should be made openly, not behind closed doors and the legislature should receive regular reporting on what decisions are being made,” he said in a statement.

The organization Mr. Eby ran before entering provincial politics, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said the vague wording in the bill is problematic. As it stands, these extraordinary powers can be triggered not only by “actions of a foreign jurisdiction,” but also for less serious matters such as bringing down interprovincial trade barriers or supporting the province’s economy.

That would invoke powers typically used under the War Measures Act and its modern successor the Emergency and Disaster Management Act, said Meghan McDermott, policy director at the BCCLA.

She added that the province likely has secret information underscoring the severity of the threats posed by the Americans, but noted her organization will be watching to see whether the government ends up being “opportunistic” in using any newfound power.

If Mr. Trump “was replaced by somebody who didn’t care about trade wars, we would still have a government that could still – under their law just to support our economy – be creating havoc here,” she said.