Given the chance, British Columbia could have it all
It feels like Canada has been on an out-of-control rollercoaster these past few months.
Culminating on Monday, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to prorogue parliament while the Liberals sort themselves out and choose a new leader. All while leaving Canada without an active parliament, able to hold the government to account.
With the in-coming president Donald Trump’s threatened 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods exported to the United States looming, and the subsequent recession should he follow through hanging over us like the Sword of Damocles, we need a strong, legitimate government to take action.
By action, I mean talk with Trump and his team, not threaten to cut off our energy exports. Nothing he’s asked is unreasonable. Our border is a sieve. The number of illegals crossing the border particularly at Roxham Road, and the amount of illegal weapons and drugs seized routinely is proof of that. Why it takes Donald Trump to point that out to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, and why he needs to resort to threats to deal with an issue that’s in the best interests of both countries is beyond me.
It seems to be part and parcel of how the Trudeau government has treated Canada over the past nine years.
Lately, there have been a lot of people – Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary is one of the most vocal – who have pointed out that Canada is a wealthy country, rich in resources, but whose government has done its damnedest for almost a decade to hog-tie our economy at every turn, disincentivizing investment, destroying our resource industries, killing the middle class, and exacerbating this by bringing in more immigrants than our housing, healthcare system, and economy can handle.
For what? So, we can have the dubious honour of becoming the first G7 nation to go bankrupt?
On paper, Canada is a wealthy nation. We have so much potential. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that we could be almost self-sufficient, if only we had a government and a prime minister who cared about this country instead of only about himself.
But instead, Canada has an economy that’s gone to hell, and with potential 25 percent tariffs looming, it’s headed for the pit of despair.
All this talk of Canada becoming the fifty-first state of the US, is just bunk. Trump is a businessman, and right now, Canada is not a good investment.
The Financial Post’s Diane Francis told Senator Pamela Wallin in a recent interview on Wallin’s podcast that in her 2013 book Merger of the Century, she examined whether an economic merger of the US and Canada was possible. After-all, no other nations on earth are as intertwined socially, and economically as Canada and the United States. Since Trump’s “51st State” jabs, the pros and cons of the idea of an economic merger have been discussed by various pundits in both countries.
Francis looked at the possibility the same way you’d look at the merger of two companies, something that’s quite commonplace in the business world. What she found, looking at the two countries as corporations, was that Canada is worth more in natural geological assets than the US – $17 trillion more.
The notion of Canada becoming the 51st state is “foolish and insulting,” Francis said.
But the notion of an economic union isn’t. Keep the two countries sovereign, but have customs and tariffs apply along the external borders of North America, and for the purpose of trade and investment, erase the border between the Canada and the US, was her suggestion.
A similar idea to the European Union, but in North America there’s only two countries and we already get along, Francis noted. Then people would have the freedom to move around and do business where they want, spark economic activity and opportunities in both countries.
With the Trudeau Liberals at the helm – or rather on an extended break from the helm while they get their act together and choose a new leader – there’s likely no opportunity to save our economy by showing Trump that Canadians care about border issues as much as he does.
Canada has a lot going for it, Francis said. Alberta and Ontario carry the nation. In fact, she thinks that “Alberta is the Saudia Arabia of the Western Hemisphere.”
Alberta. Our neighbour to the east. A province British Columbia has a lot in common with, and the one which many British Columbians have fled to in search of a better, more affordable life.
Alberta, the province which has a premier who stands up for her people in the face of the federal Liberal government’s determined effort to destroy Canada’s most valuable industry, and producer of our biggest export to the US. Energy.
All the focus has been on Alberta, partly because of Premier Danielle Smith’s push back against Trudeau, and partly because yes, Alberta does produce an awful lot of revenue for Canada.
I like Alberta. I like Danielle Smith. What I don’t like is that British Columbia has been under attack too, and no one seems to notice or care.
Take a look at Canada as whole, all the resources and beauty our country holds. From coast to coast, it’s a wonderful land, full of wonderful people and rich with potential as well as resources.
Now look at British Columbia. It’s Canada, in miniature.
Our agriculture industry produces everything from wine and apples, to canola, to beef, to dairy, to wheat, barley and cereal crops. We have abundant forests, we’re sitting on vast reserves of oil and gas in our part of the Western Sedimentary Basin, we have critical and other minerals, as well as coal. Our hydro-electric dams produce “clean” electricity. We have fisheries along the coast and in our rivers.
With the World-Famous Alaska Highway running through northeastern BC, we are an important conduit between the continental US and Alaska. Not only for trade, but tourism. With our easy access to the Rockies and other natural wonders scattered throughout the province, as well as the rich culture and history of our Indigenous people, British Columbia has abundant tourism opportunities.
But we also have David Eby and the BC NDP as our government.
A government, which has been on an extended vacation since May 2024.
Ostensibly because of the provincial election in October, but did they really need to shut down the Legislature two weeks early – after coming back from Christmas break two weeks late – for that? Then, upon re-election, Eby gives all his MLA’s a raise, and another four months off.
We won’t have an opportunity to hold the provincial government to account until February 18. Nine months after the last sitting of the BC Legislature. With pay. When they return, they’ll sit in the Legislature for just 40 days before recessing for another four months.
I rather think Eby inspired his pal Trudeau, don’t you?
It doesn’t end there.
All the federal policies that are so problematic for Alberta? Well, the BC NDP government has taken those policies and doubled down.
It's almost as if the BC NDP said to Ottawa, “hold my beer and watch this.”
Ottawa wants net-zero emissions by 2050 and reduce them to 35 percent below 2019 levels by 2030? Way ahead of you, Trudeau. Not only have we mandated the reduction of emissions from the oil and gas industry to 38 percent below 2007 levels, but we’ve banned the installation of gas furnaces and water heaters in the province as of January 1, 2030.
We’ve put so much red tape on our energy industry that only one out of ten proposed LNG projects has been approved. At the same time, we’re introducing new regulatory measures in 2025 to backstop anything you Feds have brought in.
You want Canadians to stop buying gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035? We’re restricting their sale in 2030, and out-right banning them by 2035.
Oh, there’s a housing shortage? Don’t worry, the BC government’s got you covered, we’ll mandate turning all single-family residential zones into four-plexes.
Need more electricity to reach net-zero? We won’t do nuclear; we’ll approve unreliable wind farms without an environmental assessment instead.
You want to legalize marijuana? Okay, but we’d like you to decriminalize opioids, methamphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy possession in BC for the foreseeable future while the citizens of British Columbia pay to provide the province’s addicts with a “safe” supply of drugs that will still kill them.
I could go on.
Then there’s the province’s financial machinations.
Take the tax everyone loves to hate, the Carbon Tax. British Columbia is the birthplace of the carbon tax. While it was initially revenue-neutral under the BC Liberals, the NDP decided they needed that money for themselves. They don’t even pretend to return any of that money to the people like the Federal government. Sure, you can apply for a carbon tax refund, but how likely are you to get it?
British Columbia’s healthcare system in crisis. Between the decriminalized hard drugs, which has led to more people needing life-saving interventions, as well as addictions and mental health treatment; the lack of doctors throughout the province leaving many people without a family doctor and thus unable to access health services, such as psychiatry; and the same lack of doctors and other health services staff leading to repeated ER closures as well as unreasonably long wait times, both in emergency rooms and on waiting lists for treatment, BC’s healthcare system is becoming healthcare in name only.
David Eby’s solution? Throw more money at it. Money we don’t have.
Meanwhile, we have more bureaucrats in the healthcare system than we can shake a stick at, costing taxpayers money, instead of boots on the ground that could actually provide the services British Columbians need.
While Eby is throwing money at the province’s increasing problems, the bureaucracy is becoming more and more bloated – the public service is the fastest growing industry in British Columbia, and it contributes nothing to our economy – and our deficit is soaring.
Eby’s new finance minister, Brenda Bailey, presented the province’s fall economic and fiscal update in December, projecting a $9.4 billion deficit, up by $429 million from previous predictions. Revenues from corporate taxes, sales taxes and the resource industry are down by $730 million, while expenses are expected to increase by $107 million.
This decline in revenues shows that companies aren’t investing in BC, there’s less discretionary spending, and the resource industry – forestry, oil and gas, and mining – isn’t producing as much as it used to.
That’s no way to run a business. Or a province.
I’m reminded of something Ronald Reagan said half a century ago, that I believe has stood the test of time:
“There’s very little government can do as efficiently and economically as people can do themselves.”
Reagan was an economist, and he spoke at length about the economy on the Johnny Carson Show in March 1975. Bloated government bureaucracy, deficits, and wasteful spending were some of the topics he touched on. Yes, they were talking about the US economy of the time, but the principles are still valid.
On inflation and deficits, Reagan said that governments have to learn to say no to new spending, because “when budget deficits are what’s causing inflation, the answer to curing inflation is a balanced budget.”
Before he became premier, when he was running for the leader of the BC Liberal Party, Gordon Campbell told me that the basis for his fiscal policy was something his mother always said – you can’t spend money you don’t have.
Clearly, David Eby hasn’t met Peg Campbell. Or Ronald Reagan.
Beautiful British Columbia could have it all. We have the resources, the skilled and resourceful people throughout our province, the businesspeople and entrepreneurs to make this province into a place that encourages investment, where people want to live and raise their families. A beacon of light and hope in a country whose leader is doing his level best to ruin us all.
The government needs to step out of the way and let the private sector do it’s thing. Danielle Smith is doing that in Alberta and people from across the country are flocking to her province to live.
Otherwise, in the race to the bottom, I fear that British Columbia is going to get there first.
Outstanding article! I’m sharing on FB