VANCOUVER – British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government is walking back a key portion of its controversial tariff response law, admitting the proposed legislation “didn’t get the balance right.”
He says the legislation known as Bill 7 needs appropriate “safeguards” after a wave of criticism about potential overreach.
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 “created” by U.S. President Donald Trump.
But he says a key portion of the law is being “pulled,” which would originally have given the cabinet sweeping powers to make regulations to addressed challenges “arising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction.”
The premier says stakeholders expressed a higher level of “anxiety” than he and Attorney General Niki Sharma anticipated.
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’s intentions, saying he varies from being insulting to complementary to Canada, depending on the day.
“And I think that what we’re going to see over the next four years, and this isn’t a great insight, this is common sense to British Columbians and Canadians, is any number of versions of the president,” he says.
The premier says his government will also reconsider the section of Bill 7 that set a two-year expiry clause.
“I understand the objection that the 24-month horizon was too long for people. It’s a legitimate concern that’s been raised, and it’s one that we’re looking at addressing in terms of other safeguards we can put in place,” Eby told a news conference.
However, Eby says he still believes the government needs to be able to respond swiftly to further “economic attacks” from the United States.
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 “step in the wrong direction for democratic institutions.”
Interim BC Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote criticized the bill for its “vague wording,” warning it “could allow for sweeping economic decisions without clear limits or transparency,” while the B.C. Conservatives called Bill 7 “the most undemocratic, power-grabbing legislation in history.”
“This bill would grant David Eby unprecedented powers to override provincial laws, regulations, and even personal privacy rights,” the B.C. Conservatives posted on X on March 20.
Party Leader John Rustad said the bill would give the “NDP government sweeping, almost unlimited powers with zero oversight.”
Sharma had previously defended the purpose of the legislation, saying it would allow the province to “move nimbly” in the face of Trump’s “random, erratic threats.”
“We need to make sure that we have ability to respond rapidly in a temporary way to protect our economy,” she said last week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2025.
