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Thank you to the Victoria newspaper (Times Colonist) for continuing to express various submissions regarding Bill 7. Important to be informed.<\/p>\n
British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government is walking back a key portion of its controversial tariff response law, admitting the proposed legislation \u201cdidn\u2019t get the balance right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the legislation known as Bill 7 needs appropriate \u201csafeguards\u201d after a wave of criticism about potential overreach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Government to pull controversial provisions<\/p>\n
Eby says the government has emergency powers for natural disasters, and this bill was designed to give the government emergency powers to respond to disasters \u201ccreated\u201d by U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
But he says a key portion of the law is being \u201cpulled,\u201d which would originally have given the cabinet sweeping powers to make regulations to addressed challenges \u201carising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The premier says stakeholders expressed a higher level of \u201canxiety\u201d than he and Attorney General Niki Sharma anticipated.<\/p>\n
The reversal comes on the same day Prime Minster Mark Carney briefed premiers on his conversation with U.S. President Trump, and Eby expressed his skepticism about Trump\u2019s intentions, saying he varies from being insulting to complementary to Canada, depending on the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think that what we\u2019re going to see over the next four years, and this isn\u2019t a great insight, this is common sense to British Columbians and Canadians, is any number of versions of the president,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The premier says his government will also reconsider the section of Bill 7 that set a two-year expiry clause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the objection that the 24-month horizon was too long for people. It\u2019s a legitimate concern that\u2019s been raised, and it\u2019s one that we\u2019re looking at addressing in terms of other safeguards we can put in place,\u201d Eby told a news conference.<\/p>\n
However, Eby says he still believes the government needs to be able to respond swiftly to further \u201ceconomic attacks\u201d from the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The bill came under fire from legal circles, the Opposition B.C. Conservatives, the BC Green Party and the BC Chamber of Commerce, which wrote to Eby and Sharma earlier this week calling Bill 7 a \u201cstep in the wrong direction for democratic institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interim BC Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote criticized the bill for its \u201cvague wording,\u201d warning it \u201ccould allow for sweeping economic decisions without clear limits or transparency,\u201d while the B.C. Conservatives called Bill 7 \u201cthe most undemocratic, power-grabbing legislation in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill would grant David Eby unprecedented powers to override provincial laws, regulations, and even personal privacy rights,\u201d the B.C. Conservatives posted on X on March 20.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Party Leader John Rustad said the bill would give the \u201cNDP government sweeping, almost unlimited powers with zero oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharma had previously defended the purpose of the legislation, saying it would allow the province to \u201cmove nimbly\u201d in the face of Trump\u2019s \u201crandom, erratic threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure that we have ability to respond rapidly in a temporary way to protect our economy,\u201d she said last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2025.<\/p>\n
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n