B.C. cancels $1,000 grocery rebate, blames Trump’s tariff threats

Finance Minister Brenda Bailey shakes hands with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin during a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

The B.C. NDP is breaking a major election promise, blaming the spectre of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs for forcing the government’s hand.

In a pre-budget update Thursday, Finance Minister Brenda Bailey announced the NDP is cancelling the $1,000 grocery rebate it promised during last fall’s campaign.

“These are unprecedented economic times,” Bailey said. “We could never imagine a time where our closest neighbour has essentially declared economic warfare on Canada.”

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad pointed out his party was criticized during the campaign by Premier David Eby for a relief plan that wasn’t as immediate as the one the NDP promised.

“During the election campaign David Eby said very clearly that people needed help now and not down the road,” said Rustad Thursday. “It’s also why we as the Conservative Party brought forward our plan around tax relief.”

During Bailey’s announcement, she also said the financial chaos caused by Trump’s multiple tariff threats has triggered a hiring freeze of all public service workers, except for those needed to support core services.

The head of the B.C. General Employees’ Union, which represents civil servants, worries about bloat at the top, and a relative decline in frontline workers.

“Senior management has increased at almost double the rate of frontline workers. so today there’s one senior manager for every three frontline workers represented by the union,” said Paul Finch, BCGEU president.

Meanwhile, Trump issued his latest volley in the escalating trade war Thursday, with global reciprocal tariffs coming in April for any country imposing them on the U.S.

He also once again pushed for Canada to become the 51st state, citing its lagging NATO military contributions

“If they had to pay just something modestly fair they wouldn’t be able to succeed as a country, and that’s why I feel that they have to become a state,” he said from the Oval Office.

NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon, heading up a committee focused on responding to possible tariffs, bristled at this latest shot by Trump.

“If you want to talk about fentanyl that’s killing people, yes, we’re all in,” he said. “If you want to talk about transnational crime, we’re all in. But if you want us to become the 51st, there’s no way that’s happening.”

The B.C. legislature returns on Tuesday and undoubtedly responses to the tariffs will feature large in the agenda.

“It is the number one priority facing our government right now,” said Mike Farnworth, NDP house leader.

The budget will be tabled March 4, the same day a 30-day reprieve on Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods is set to expire.