B.C. Premier David Eby did not rule out pulling the plug on energy exports south of the border as part of retaliatory tariffs if they can't be avoided.
"I'm not sure what the disconnect is when I say that nothing is off the table," Eby said during an unrelated announcement in Langley Thursday (Dec. 12). "We are prepared to support retaliatory tariffs and response to the United States that gets their attention to help them understand what the consequences would be for British Columbians and what the consequence would be for Americans."
Eby's comments come following Wednesday's meeting of the provincial premiers and territorial leaders with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada's First Ministers met for the second time to discuss the country's response to threats from president-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs of 25 per cent on all Canadian goods.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said that that province would withhold energy exports to neighbouring American states. Eby sent comparable signals.
Eby said B.C. sells power to Washington State, Oregon and California during peak demand times.
"We sold a billion dollars worth of electricity to those states last year," he said. "In other words, people (and companies) in those western states will be 25 per cent more on top of the existing cost of electricity, so it is not an insignificant amount of electricity."
Eby acknowledged that B.C. is a net importer of energy, but B.C. imports that power at a "much lower cost" when western states have excess power.
Eby added that B.C. is also a major supplier of critical minerals as well manufactured parts.
"When I say nothing is off the table, nothing is off the table 鈥� I mean it," Eby said.
"We will not stop until we are assured that the Americans fully understand how inter-tied we are and the consequences visited on British Columbians will not just be felt by British Columbians. They will also be felt by Americans. But we are going to do it as part of an integrated effort because it's going to hurt British Columbians, it's going to hurt Americans."
