The BC Conservatives have launched a petition in an effort to block the BC NDP's controversial Bill 7.
If passed, the Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act would give the government sweeping power to combat the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump without legislative approval.
In their petition, the BC Conservatives labelled Bill 7 "the most undemocratic, power-grabbing legislation in BC history," warning that it would "grant Premier David Eby and his Cabinet unprecedented powers to override provincial laws, regulations, and even personal privacy rights."
"This isn't just legislation," the party warned. "It's a direct attack on our democracy and on your freedom."
The BC Conservatives urged British Columbians to sign the petition to "protect democracy, transparency, and accountability" in the province.
The bill was introduced on March 13, right before the legislature closed for spring break.
During a press conference that day, Eby addressed concerns regarding the powers it would give him.
"It's crucial that whatever the emergency is that the president incurs on us in an effort to damage us that we're able to respond quickly to minimize the damage," he said. "This is not everyday legislation ... This is in an emergency situation where we need legislative authority, we need government authority to do something quickly to minimize damage to the economy, to people."
In the days since, the bill has received a fair amount of backlash — and not only from conservatives.
The BC Conservatives have, however, been leading the charge against the proposed legislation.
"If you thought government overreach during COVID19 was bad — wait until you hear about what BC's radical NDP is trying to with Bill 7," leader John Rustad wrote in a post on X. "Bill 7 gives BC's already authoritarian top-down NDP government sweeping, almost unlimited powers with zero oversight. Bill 7 is so radical that it’s almost hard to believe — for example, it includes provisions that allow the NDP to introduce road pricing and collect your personal information."
