Turn tariffs to source of strength, Premier Eby says as provincial budget is released

By Canadian Press on March 4, 2025.

VICTORIA — British Columbia Premier David Eby interrupted the budget lockup today to outline some of the plans his government has to counter U.S. tariffs that threaten to upend the economy.

Eby says his government will make sure that there is support in place for B.C. businesses to pivot to global and domestic markets.

He says B.C. has all the resources the world needs, including clean electricity, critical minerals and agricultural products, and the best way to respond to the threat from the United States is to grow the economy.

The premier says they’ll do everything they can to keep food costs down as the value of the Canadian dollar sinks and they’ll ensure that there is food security in the event that U.S. President Trump decides to attack Canada in different ways.

Eby says this is a moment to take an attack and turn it into a source of strength, and it’s amazing to see the sense of pride, courage and solidarity from Canadians.

B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said Monday that her budget will help brace the province against four years of “uncertainty and disorder” from the United States.

Bailey says Trump’s tariffs came “completely out of nowhere” when he announced them last November and they’ve already changed B.C.’s financial circumstances.

The NDP government has already cancelled its election promise of a $1,000 grocery rebate and frozen some public-sector hiring as it prepares for what Eby has called economic warfare by Trump.

The province goes into the trade war carrying a record deficit forecast of $9.4 billion this fiscal year.

Bailey said she isn’t ruling out the province’s first 11-figure deficit and she says now is not the time for deep cuts, but to plan for times of uncertainty.

The province’s ballooning deficit saw S&P Global Ratings drop B.C.’s credit score last April for the third time since 2021.

Another agency, Moody’s, maintained the province’s long-standing AAA credit rating but revised its outlook to negative.