When Premier David Eby took the stage last week to announce the United States had declared “economic war” on the province, something remarkable happened: He sounded and looked like a premier again.
Normally, that’s not something you have to say about the head of a provincial government. But B.C.’s New Democrats have been aimlessly sleepwalking since they barely won the October election. They’ve done virtually nothing, other than punt off a legislative session and spend the better part of three months studiously navel-gazing as part of a post-election “transition” plan from one administration to — er, well, the exact same administration.
Then Donald Trump threatened a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods. He takes office Monday. And the resulting national outrage appears to have snapped the BC NDP out of its slumber.
“Our country is under direct threat by the president-elect of the United States,” said Eby.
“It is a declaration of economic war, in my opinion, and in wartime, people need to come together and support each other, whatever it takes to ensure we get the attention of the Americans that we remind them about how their prosperity is our prosperity.”
“British Columbians have always been there in times of actual war,” he added.
In any other circumstance, a wartime comparison would have been ridiculous at best, and, at worst, potentially offensive to actual veterans. But Eby landed the metaphor, accompanying it with finance ministry research that showed a potential $69-billion hit to the economy, a $2.5-billion drop in provincial revenue, more than 124,000 job losses and a spike in the provincial unemployment rate.
“Sharing this information with you is not to scare you, [it] is to reassure you that we understand the gravity of the threat to you and to your family, that our government is focused to ensure that we are protecting you and that we are responding to this threat with everything that we have,” said Eby.
The tone, tenor and gravity of the situation was reminiscent of the briefings by John Horgan during the COVID-19 outbreak, when he sought to reassure British Columbians and also deliver difficult news to them at the same time.
Some are wondering if this could be Eby’s pandemic moment as well — an opportunity to step up into a leadership role during a crisis moment.
If so, politically, the BC NDP is lucky. Because the mandate letters that were quietly released by the premier alongside his Trump press conference show a distinct lack of direction and vision by his government.
“Work to make homeownership a reality for more British Columbians,” read a line from the mandate letter for Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon.
“Take necessary steps to address temporary emergency room closures,” read another line to Health Minister Josie Osborne.
If the Trump crisis did not exist, the mandate letters on their own would have sparked an entirely different question: Why did it take so long to release letters filled with so few new ideas?
When the premier swore in his cabinet on Nov. 18, he cited a delay in order to strike a deal with the BC Greens. The two sides came to terms Dec. 12. Yet virtually none of the agreed-upon items are in the mandate letters, released Jan. 16.
Instead, there’s a boilerplate line in each letter that reads: “The commitments in that accord complement the direction in these mandate letters.”
Rather than taking one month to write one sentence, it looks like the mandate letters were instead held off to allow for last-minute rewrites due to Trump. Each includes instructions for a spending review, in part due to the American tariff threat. Some include specific instructions to mitigate tariff impacts on B.C. sectors, and seek trade opportunities in other international markets.
In that sense, then, the mandate letters have some value. Otherwise, they were entirely lacking in vision in how to tackle the big housing, affordability, health care, housing and crime issues plaguing this government in year eight of its term.
If Trump does follow through on his tariff threat, this may be a defining week for the BC NDP government and the premier, as it steps up to tackle a serious national emergency.
British Columbians can only hope, in the process, the governing New Democrats are jolted out of their limp, listless and languorously long post-election nap, to come up with some new proposals to tackle the serious crises facing people here at home as well.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. 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.
