Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad Tuesday (Feb. 4) welcomed the decision by the United States to pause tariffs on Canada for 30 days, but also called for de-escalation and a "complete restructuring" of the provincial economy.
Rustad said the damage of tariffs to British Columbians, their jobs and livelihoods would have been significant, noting he was glad the tariffs are on hold for now.
"(I) was happy to see that (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau is starting to do the right thing in terms of putting money towards the border and stopping the flow of fentanyl," he added. "I wish, quite frankly, (Premier) David Eby had taken the steps that there were necessary back in November. All this might have been avoided."
Rustad repeated earlier calls for B.C. to invest resources into port security to stop the flow of fentanyl and other chemical precursors, then bill the federal government.
He also questioned the approach of Ottawa, which announced retaliatory tariffs following Saturday's announcement that the U.S. would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian goods (minus energy which faces a tariff of 10 per cent) on Feb. 4 B次元官网网址� a move now on hold at least until March 5.
"I think retaliatory tariffs will only invite more problems coming from the President of the United States," Rustad said. "So I'm not in favour of retaliatory tariffs unless we are in a situation, where we have addressed the border (and) we have addressed the fentanyl."
If B.C. has met those conditions, and tariffs still went forward, "then we can start looking at some of those things," Rustad said.
"But i just think, quite frankly, ramping up the rhetoric is not going solve a problem. When we are the small trading partner, we have the most to lose. So why would we want to ramp that up?"
Rustad said he would never be on board with a "federal Liberal approach and David Eby's approach" in rejecting the criticism of his approach.
"My perspective is that they are causing it," Rustad said. "They cause immense damage to our economy, to affordability in this province and this country. They have risked massive tariffs from the United States by playing a game of brinkmanship, as opposed to sitting down and being serious with the Americans, all just simply for the purposes of politics. I will never support that kind of approach."
Rustad was referring to the idea Trudeau is using the trade dispute with the U.S. and Trump's unpopularity generally to lift the fortunes of the federal Liberals.
"I'm not a huge fan of the president either," Rustad said. "However, that's what they (federal Liberals) are trying to tap into with their strategy, which tells me that what they are doing is all about politics and that they don't care about the damage that could be done."
The executive order with which Trump announced the now-delayed tariffs described British Columbia as one of the main manufacturing centres for fentanyl.
"These are the consequences of weak and radical NDP leadership that gave the Americans an argument against us," Angelo Isidorou, the Conservatives' executive director, wrote on social media Saturday. "The free drug culture promoted by the NDP has destroyed our reputation and killed countless people."
Figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection show this U.S. agency seized 19.5 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border in 2024 compared to 9,570 kilograms at the southwestern one. This difference has prompted observers to argue Trump used fentanyl as a pretext.
Eby said Saturday he has heard "many justifications" for the tariffs.
"I also heard him say that there is literally nothing that Canada can do to prevent these tariffs from being put in place and I take him seriously at that," Eby said. "I also take him seriously about in his stated concern about fentanyl. I share that concern."
Eby added that he also is concerned about issues related to transnational organized crime, money-laundering and precursor chemicals coming into Canada.
"When you are talking about transnational organized crime, you have to work together...and I cannot imagine a stronger ally, certainly, than our provincial government. If the President want wants to come up and wants to do that work, he can come to British Columbia and we can talk about the work that we can do together."
Rustad said B.C. should be using the tariff reprieve to start putting in place the framework for Canada-wide free trade agreement that would "tear down" the barriers between provinces, including those that limit energy exports.
"There needs to a complete re-think of our economy as Canadians," he said. "We should be stripping out...the bureaucratic process that is stopping us from moving forward with projects in this province."
He also called on government to diversify trade abroad.
Looming more broadly over this current dispute are questions about the nature of Canada's economic relationship with the United States. Various experts have described the tariff threats as a fundamental departure from Canada's long-standing trade relationship with the United States.
"The only way the trade fundamental trade relationship with the United States changes is if we as Canadians and British Columbians change it," Rustad said, pointing to free trade expanding across Canada, and B.C. diversifies its trade markets.
"But if we are not prepared to take these steps, then we are going to continue to be held over a barrel," Rustad said. "We are incredibly vulnerable and we should not be that vulnerable. We should not have allowed ourselves to get to this point."
