In wake of Ontario ad furor, B.C. to launch more diplomatic trade war ads

Canada’s trade war with the U.S. has taken an unexpected turn with the U.S. president announcing talks are off thanks to a TV ad paid for by Ontario.

As U.S. President Donald Trump terminates bilateral trade talks, blaming a trolling ad created by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government, British Columbia is giving a sneak peak at its own ad campaign.

It will be more diplomatic than Ontario’s ad, which includes 30 seconds of a 1987 address by Republican president Ronald Reagan extolling the virtues of free trade and the pitfalls of tariffs.

That ad will run through the weekend then cease.

Related: Ontario to pull anti-tariff ad after Trump calls off trade talks

Hours after Trump ended trade talks, B.C. Premier David Eby hinted that his government would be launching its own ad campaign in the U.S., and by Friday afternoon had posted a preview—an infographic depicting Canadian industry and American consumers as “losers” and Russia as a “winner” in the context of Trump’s lumber tariffs.

“We certainly aren’t going to be spending millions of dollars on ads, but we do believe that some targeted advertisement in the U.S. in particular (would be beneficial), reminding communities that are dependent on forest products from B.C. that these tariffs are higher on British Columbia than they are on Russia,” said Ravi Kahlon, jobs and economic growth minister.

On BlueSky and Instagram, Eby wrote that the province’s “digital campaign will be unveiled next month to explain who wins and who loses.”

As for Ontario’s ad, Kahlon didn’t criticize Ford’s approach of reaching directly to Trump’s constituents.

“We the provinces, the government have a responsibility to talk to the American citizens directly,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to ensure they understand that tariffs have an impact on us, but it also has an impact on them, their workers, the cost of their goods.”