Monday April 7, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Today BC Premier David Eby had an opportunity to discuss lumber tariffs with Prime Minister Mark Carney in person.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about today,” Eby told Carney as he welcomed him near the front steps of the legislature. “We got some bad news on tariffs for our softwood lumber industry.”
They met for about 20 minutes.
Warm-up to today’s meeting:
The heads up about today’s meeting was given by Eby last week including a comment during his April 3 media session that even though he is “on team orange” that he hopes for stability in federal leadership after the April 28 election.
Carney was at the BC Legislature this morning after holding a presser on the Saanich Peninsula about national parks and sustainability. At that press conference he said about the softwood lumber tariff (as much as 34.5%) imposed by the United States: “This is another unjustified tariff. You can expect us to fight against it,” said Carney.
The warm-up for the Liberal Leader in Victoria was held last night in the James Bay neighbourhood of downtown Victoria.
This is Day 16 of the federal election campaign. Last night for his rally and today for his press conference and meeting with Eby was Carney’s first visit to BC during the campaign.
Premier’s statement on meeting with the prime minister
VICTORIA – Premier David Eby has released the following statement after meeting with Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada.
“I had a productive meeting with Prime Minister Carney where we discussed shared priorities for British Columbia and the federal government. Our conversation focused on solutions for many of the issues facing the people we serve: from U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s attacks on our softwood lumber industry, to a national transportation corridor for goods and services, to expediting major projects and affordable housing. It is clear B.C.’s interests support Canada as a whole.
“The prime minister and I spoke about building more housing with B.C. mass timber. At a time when Canadian forestry exports are facing an escalation in an ongoing trade war, we welcome an opportunity to meet the growing domestic and international demand for value-added wood products.
“The American president’s renewed assault on our forestry sector needs the same Team Canada response as the manufacturing and auto industry jobs in Ontario and Quebec. The prime minister confirmed his understanding of the seriousness of the softwood issue and his commitment to work with us to address it proactively. The Team Canada approach is one B.C. supports, and it is our expectation other provinces will support us, too.
“No matter the result of the federal election, we need a federal government that is ready to help address bottlenecks in our transportation corridor to get our goods to market, as well as expand training to build a highly skilled workforce. Any successful trade diversification strategy for Canada hinges on our success as a province. I feel the prime minister is fully engaged on these critical issues. “We live in the best province in the best country in the world. By working together, we can meet any challenge that comes our way.”
===== RELATED:
- Seniors make an effort to vote because it matters (April 8, 2025)
- Carney announces Liberal sustainability platform including 10 new national parks & 15 urban parks (April 7, 2025)
- Liberal Leader Mark Carney rallies the party faithful in Victoria (April 6, 2025)
- BC Premier: Softwood lumber duties are an attack on forestry workers (April 5, 2025)
- If the United States no longer wants to lead, Canada will, says Carney (April 4, 2025)
- Carney promises $150 million boost for CBC (April 4, 2025)
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