British Columbia Premier David Eby plans to reject any new trade deal with the United States that does not address current tariffs on key industries like softwood lumber. Eby will tell Prime Minister Mark Carney that a bad agreement is worse than the status quo during upcoming first ministers’ meetings in Prince Edward Island. The premier stated that B.C. had been consistent in holding this position, arguing that rushing into a deal would be a mistake.
Eby intends to use the meetings to push Ottawa for American-style anti-racketeering laws, similar to the U.S. RICO Act, to target organized crime facilitators. He cited a recent U.S. Justice Department investigation that resulted in the indictment of three B.C. residents connected to India-based criminal groups as proof of the gap in Canadian law. While British Columbia has expanded its capacity to seize assets through civil forfeiture, Eby said the province’s authority to go after organized crime has been stretched.
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He emphasized that police need tools to dismantle criminal networks legally, even if civil liberties groups oppose the measures. Eby, a former executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, noted that balancing public safety with individual rights is difficult. He added that the right to conduct business in the community is critically important, but the current legal framework does not provide enough capacity to fight organized crime effectively.
The U.S. Justice Department last week announced the arrests of the B.C. trio among 24 suspects around the world. The arrests highlight the international reach of organized crime networks and the limitations of current Canadian enforcement tools. Eby said a Canadian version of the RICO Act would provide additional tools for police to combat these sophisticated networks.
Trade tensions and internal divisions
The push for new trade rules comes after U.S. President Donald Trump declined to extend the Canada-United States-Mexico trade deal known as CUSMA for another 16 years. This decision has triggered concerns about the long-term future of free trade between the two nations. Eby said softwood must be a key part of any resolution and that Carney should continue to “hold the line” against tariffs that hurt Canadian industries.
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He also intends to discuss health care, wildfire co-operation, and interprovincial trade barriers during the meetings. Eby fully supported Ottawa’s proposal to allow provincially-inspected meat to be sold across provincial boundaries. He noted that internal processes, not ideological opposition, had held up such sales in the past.
An agreement signed in November between all Canadian provinces, territories and the federal government drops interprovincial trade barriers on all goods, except food, beverages, tobacco, plants and animals. B.C. proposed the measure and chaired the table that led to the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement. Eby said a memorandum of understanding on economic issues signed between B.C. and Ottawa this month had served to lower the temperature between his province and Alberta.
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