David Eby has paused retaliatory measures on the United States following Donald Trump's decision to delay their implementation by 30 days.
The BC premier maintained that he believed the president's end goal was still to annex Canada, and said he would be prepared to reintroduce countermeasures at a moment's notice "if there's a tweet tomorrow that puts the tariffs back on."
"What we're looking at is the next four years of potential threats and tariffs and attacks," Eby said following the revelations that Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had reached a temporary deal, "and what has changed for so many Canadians is almost overnight is feeling like the Americans are our friends, to feeling like the president is out to get Canada and in particular to try to turn us into the 51st state."
He said British Columbia would be taking measures to "make sure that we're never again in the position" of "being so exposed to the whims of one person in the White House."
"Work that has been underway to strengthen our economy will only continue with greater enthusiasm and acceleration," Eby explained. "We understand now very clearly from the president his intentions, which is to make Canada the 51st state and we know that our best defence against that is a strong economy where we can stand on our own two feet in Canada and British Columbia."
He made it clear that the goal of retaliation was not to "punish Americans," rather it was simply a necessary response to tariffs placed on Canada.
"It is what BC firms will do," Eby added, "and we'll support them in doing that to make sure they're protecting jobs for British Columbians as we diversify our economy across the globe."
In announcing the pause, Trump said that after 30 days he would reconsider based on "whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured."
