BC Premier David Eby touched down at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre today (Friday) providing the final keynote address the two-day COFI Conference.
Prior to his speaking engagement, Eby met with local media, delving into several topics including the possibility of welcoming more Americans into our province.
He said with the Trump administration creating a lot of unrest, some American residents are considering leaving their country and to being work elsewhere.
“Whether it’s medical professionals, whether its people who are experts in particular fields such as researchers or people who want to start businesses, we want to be welcoming them into Canada and British Columbia right now. Unfortunately, we saw a significant reduction in the provincial nominee program that allows us to sponsor those folks for Canadian citizenship.”
Sticking with the unrest south of the border, toll measures on US Trucks travelling to Alaska were also up for discussion.
The province filed legislation last month that would permit them to levy tolls on vehicles between the Lower 48 and Alaska.
The bill, known formally as the Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act, is a measure to counter the tariffs placed on BC by American president Donald Trump.
Eby hopes Alaskans see the harm be doing by the recent trade war.
“This measure is to get the attention of those Republicans in Alaska to remind them of how much we have in common and frankly give them the motivation to stand up against a president that threatens people who question his agenda.”
“By speaking directly with Alaskans pointing out these connections through this bill and by threatening to put tolls through the traffic that put through British Columbia – I think it is part of an overall strategy, we don’t want to use it but we didn’t ask for this trade war either.”
With all the trade war drama aside, our premier noted relationships with neighbouring states like Washington, Oregon and California remains strong even with the political unrest.
“I have had some really positive meetings with Washington state’s governor (Bob Ferguson) he has recently come onto the job and is new to it. He is coming up to visit us and we are going to be doing exchanges with the ministers and deepening those ties. It’s important to have friendships with Americans – it is just one president, one American and we have a whole bunch of Americans who value our relationship.”
In addition, the premier commended the work by Lisa Murkowski, the senior senator for Alaska, in supporting a bill to try and thwart Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada.
The Senate voted 51-48 to approve the bill and send it to the House of Representatives.
“I was really glad to see Murkowski step up and speak out. I am writing a letter to her that is in the mail right now and appreciate as a Republican that nobody benefits from these kinds of trade wars,” said Eby.
Eby also touched on the importance of improved inter-provincial trade stating that a bill is in front of the legislature right now that will allow them to recognise any province or territory’s rules that are good enough for BC to offer services or sell into our area.
“It should be just as easy to sell to Ontario as it is to Washington State and that currently is not the case. With President Trump’s actions we would rather sell to Ontario.”
Eby also confirmed the overhauling of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) to give the struggling sector a leg up.
“One is to ensure that we are connecting the trees that we have to the jobs that we have available in the province. We are adding value to the mills that are here, we have the mills, we have the people, they just need to come together.”
“The other (priority) is to make sure we are accessing fibre through the management of our forests whether it be through commercial thinning, addressing wildfire areas, clearing fuel out of the forests. That also helps pulp mills and it helps create jobs.”
BCTS manages forest harvesting on more than 20% of B.C.’s public land.
In January, the Ministry of Forests initiated a review, undertaken by an expert task force, to create pathways for a stronger, more resilient sector.
BC Timber Sales will work shoulder to shoulder with all divisions within the Ministry of Forests, including the BC Wildfire Service, local communities, First Nations and industry partners to:
* reduce fuel loads in high-risk areas;
* remove health-damaged trees to improve recreational site safety and ecosystem resilience;
* expand the use of commercial thinning to maintain forest health while supplying fibre to the market;
* rehabilitate rangelands to restore productive landscapes; and
* strengthen its partnership with BCWS to expand the use of prescribed fire as a key forest-management tool.
The next event to be hosted by the Conference and Civic Centre is the Minerals North Conference which runs from April 30th to May 2nd.
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