BC Conservative MLA Kiel Giddens has accused the BC NDP of failing "Team Canada" by blocking pipelines and ignoring British Columbia's LNG sector.
His comments came in response to a motion introduced by NDP MLA Jennifer Blatherwick that sought unanimous endorsement of a Team Canada response to United States president Donald Trump's tariff threat.
"With Donald Trump's recent comments making it even clearer that tariffs are about making Canada the 51st state, now is an opportunity for every MLA to stand behind the Team Canada plan to fight these unjustified tariffs that would hurt British Columbians," Blatherwick said.
"This is about endorsing a unified Canadian approach to stand up for ourselves strategically where we know it will make an impact."
She made it clear that, "the goal is not vengeance," rather, "the goal is to show that there is a result to choices that hurt people."
"There is no freedom from consequences," Blatherwick added. "This is the last game of the finals," she added. "We are in overtime, and we need to put the puck in the net."
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens said that while he agreed with her sentiment, some of the language she used "plays right into the narrative President Trump wants us to fall into," namely the idea that "red states" should be targeted.
"We have an NDP government that now claims to be 'Team Canada'," Giddens noted. "Where was Team Canada when the NDP said they would use every tool in the toolbox to stop the Trans-Mountain expansion, a project that was all about increasing our domestic energy security for our own refining capacity in BC, while providing the only opportunity for exports outside of the US that we have for Canadian energy?"
"Why have the NDP done nothing on the softwood lumber agreement throughout their entire term in office?" he continued. "There hasn't been an agreement since 2015. Why isn't the NDP shouting from the rooftops that 'Made in BC' LNG needs to be exported to global markets? Instead they pretend that the industry doesn't exist."
Giddens went on to question that the NDP have "done nothing on internal trade despite sitting on the federal-provincial-territorial committee on internal trade since 2017."
"The Nova Scotia government has promised to introduce legislation that would ease trade and labour mobility with other provinces," he explained. "What's BC's plan? Looks like the plan is to pay lip service to internal trade while taking pot shots to score political points. We should be showing leadership in Canada to get things done. We should show leadership for our resource sectors, for our small businesses, and we should actually be focused on making life more affordable for British Columbian families."
"Canada is not for sale and neither is British Columbia," Giddens concluded, "but we need to stand on our own two feet by getting our own economic house in order. Let's truly get on board with Team Canada and fight for British Columbians."