High anxiety over softwood lumber despite tone change from U.S.: B.C. premier

Although B.C. emerged relatively unscathed from the latest round of tariffs, there's still plenty of pain for some industries.

British Columbia’s premier said Thursday he is encouraged to see a shifting tone in U.S. President Donald Trump’s talks with Canada, but concerns remain about how tariffs could devastate the province’s softwood lumber sector.

Premier David Eby said at a media availability in Victoria that he will be travelling to Prince George in central B.C. to speak with forest industry representatives on Friday, in light of Trump’s repeated assertions that the United States doesn’t need Canadian lumber among other threats against Canada since taking office.

In recent days, Trump has referred to new Prime Minister Mark Carney by his official title instead of calling him governor as he did for former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Eby, who spoke with Carney earlier on Thursday, said he is hopeful that the change in tone from the White House “means some stability and ultimately grounds to sit down like adults” and reach a new trade agreement.

But the premier also says Trump’s launch of a national security investigation into Canada’s timber practices and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s repeated indications that the sector is a key area of “concern” raise anxiety about the industry’s future.

“So, that was a two-part message for the prime minister this morning,” Eby said. “One was to congratulate him on what appears to be a de-escalation for now with the president, and I’m grateful for that.

“The second is that we can’t trust it.”

Eby’s comments come as Canada has largely escaped the worst of Trump’s tariff announcements on Wednesday where nations around the world were hit with new double-digit tariffs.

The premier said Carney is set to visit B.C. “in the coming days” on the federal election campaign, and softwood lumber will be among his top priorities when the two meet.

“It’s important for the prime minister to understand the unique impacts of the president’s actions on British Columbia,” Eby said. “The risk always with prime ministers and with federal parties is they get trapped in Ontario … they are in Ottawa, they’re beside Quebec, literally just over a bridge, and they forget about the West.

“So, my message to the prime minister will be that you have to be on top of issues in Western Canada and in British Columbia. Your response, whether they support workers or industries or whatever it is, needs to include British Columbia.”

While Eby said Ottawa needed to ensure western Canadian voices are heard, he criticized the views of former federal Reform Party leader Preston Manning, who said in an op-ed in the Globe and Mail newspaper that a vote for a Liberal government in the federal election equals a vote for Western succession.

Eby called Manning’s comments “completely bizarre” and said the timing of the idea was especially troubling for him.

“I just can’t fathom that mindset, in this moment where we’re all coming together, to try to rip the country apart, drive divisions,” Eby said. “We need to stick together to be successful as Canadians. If we’re going to stand on our own two feet, we’ve got to stand together.”

Eby also addressed the province’s Bill 7 legislation aimed at boosting B.C.’s ability to respond to unpredictable and sudden tariff actions from the United States.

The NDP government has had to roll back a portion of the legislation that would give the cabinet sweeping emergency powers to take countermeasures.

Eby said the remaining parts of the legislation include the most “aggressive” proposal yet to remove Canada’s internal trade barriers as well as for the provincial government to “buy anything but American,” both of which are critically needed in the current geopolitical environment.

He also said the ability for the province to levy fees against U.S. commercial trucks travelling through the province to access Alaska remains in the legislation, even if there are currently no plans to use the power if the law passes.

“I know that is an aggressive thing,” Eby said. “It’s not something that we want to use, but we want to ensure that those Republican politicians in Alaska are plugged into the reality that I know they are, but that they have an extra motivation to speak out to the president, to stand up strong and say these tariffs are not a good idea.

“If you don’t have the tools to respond to a bully, if you don’t stand up to the bully, then the bully only comes back for more.”

This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published April 3, 2025.