‘Hold the line’: B.C. government reacts to California governor’s plea for Canadian tourists

California wants Canadians back, launching a campaign urging tourists to visit amid boycotts in B.C.

In a slick, well-produced video, the Governor of California Gavin Newsom make a pitch for Canadians to visit his state.

“The Golden State and Canada have always shared so much in common,” Newsom says at the beginning of the video, posted online Monday.

The governor goes on to distance California from President Donald Trump, pleading for the two million Canadians who typically visit to continue vacationing in his state.

The B.C. government continues to discourage travel to the U.S., despite the California governor’s pleas for Canadian tourists.

“Two thousand miles away from Washington, and a world away in mindset,” Newsom says in the video.

The commercial-like video was posted online, along with a video from the governor on Monday after notable drop off in tourism numbers.

Many British Columbians are joining their countrymen in boycotting trips to the Golden State amid the trade war.

The posts were made the same day B.C. Premier David Eby met with Newsom virtually, discussing how B.C. lumber can be helped to rebuild the U.S. homes destroyed by recent wildfires.

It comes after Eby has repeatedly discouraged British Columbians from travelling to the States, even cancelling his own family’s spring break trip to Disneyland in March.

“It led to a Google search for other Disney’s around the world, but we’re not going to an American theme park for the foreseeable future,” said Eby last month.

On Tuesday, the NDP government was not backing down on the travel front.

“Our message to British Columbians, to Canadians, is hold the line. It’s working,” said Ravi Kahlon, chair of the B.C. cabinet committee.

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says he worries a B.C. boycott of travel to California could hurt the province’s tourism industry if the Americans retaliate by not visiting B.C.

“Eighty-five per cent of our tourism in British Columbia comes from the United States, we want to make sure we welcome Americans to British Columbia,” said Rustad.

Despite the province’s plans to nurture its status as Hollywood North, the government says it’s not worried the film industry could face backlash.

“The film industry comes up here not because of charity, they come up here because we have the most talented crews in the world,” said Kahlon.