B.C. cancels $1,000 grocery rebate and pauses hiring over Trump’s tariff threats

By Canadian Press on February 13, 2025.

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s finance minister says the government is cancelling the $1,000 grocery rebate it promised during the recent election campaign and will pause government hiring over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs.

Brenda Bailey says the impacts of the “reckless” and “destabilizing” tariffs are impossible to predict.

She says the province is already seeing economic affects, even though tariffs aren’t in place yet, and it would be “wrong to underestimate” their impact.

Bailey says she’s disappointed they can’t keep the election promise on the rebate, but the world has changed and become much more uncertain, even in the few months that she’s been finance minister.

B.C.’s budget is to be presented on March 4, the same day a 30-day pause on Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canadian goods is set to expire.

Trump says he plans a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods, and 10 per cent for energy, and the B.C. government has estimated it could cost the province more than 100,000 jobs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2025.

The Canadian Press