Stung by criticism that its new tariff response legislation is undemocratic, the BC NDP government is considering changes to try and bolster flagging support.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who chairs the premier’s cabinet committee on American tariff response, said the government is reviewing “additional guardrails” that could being amended on the floor of the house.
The government’s willingness to change the bill comes with a warning: It does not want to be criticized later for being too slow in responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.
That message was delivered bluntly in a meeting Tuesday with the members of the government’s Trade and Economy Security Taskforce, which includes mining, airport, tech, forestry, oil and gas, union and First Nations leaders.
“The message from us was pretty clear: Don't say later the government was slow to respond,” said Kahlon.
“Because that's often a critique that's made, government is slow and the decision is slow. During crisis, you need to be able to move and you need to react and make decisions quickly. So don't critique that later if you think that this is not the right way.
“But if you think there's guard rails that need to be put in place, well, give us concrete ideas. Give us suggestions of what you think that could be. And it's a conversation that I believe the attorney general is having with the Greens, and it's a conversation we're having with First Nations, and industry and workers throughout the province right now as well.”
The move comes that the bill would allow Premier David Eby to bypass the legislature for two years, consolidating unprecedented power into his cabinet and giving it the ability to amend laws, craft new spending programs and collect personal information without public debate or votes by elected MLAs.
Eby has said it’s needed to allow his government to be nimble in responding to Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation of Canada. Eby’s cabinet would report twice a year to the legislature on what it has done, and could not override First Nations consultation or environmental reviews on natural resource projects, according to the bill.
Business groups, First Nations leaders and labour organizations have expressed support for the idea of government moving quickly to protect B.C.’s economy and workers, but they’ve also privately expressed concerns to the NDP about the bill’s broad scope, which is unlike anything seen since the Second World War.
“There's a clear understanding of why we've got these pieces in place and so what we said to industry, what we said to labour and First Nations is if you've got specific ideas that you think will allow us to be able to respond, but gives good suggestions for guardrails, we'll do that,” said Kahlon.
Attorney General Niki Sharma is currently reviewing those changes, said Kahlon.
The BC Greens, who signed a confidence agreement with the NDP that included consultation on tariff measures like Bill 7, now say they have concerns and may seek amendments.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BC Conservatives, which have , began fanning out in communities to gather signatures for a petition against the legislation.
“People who know about Bill 7 are signing on the spot, others that never heard about it are asking questions wanting to know more and are shocked ‘Dictator Dave’ is doing this,” West Kelowna Conservative MLA Macklin McCall posted on social media, alongside a Conservative pamphlet calling Bill 7 “a direct assault on democracy” that “strips away democratic checks and balances” and is a “threat to freedom.”
Kahlon said the NDP may alter Bill 7 but it’s not willing to back down on the stated purpose, which is flexibility to create new aid programs, save jobs, match movements from the federal government and counter Trump’s erratic and unpredictable executive orders
“We need to have that flexibility, because this is going to come fast and it's going to come hard,” said Kahlon.
“Everything we do is going to be made public. Every decision has to be made public, as part of the bill that we have now. But let's see what other additional guardrails need to be in place for that.”
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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