B.C. business advocates pen letter critical of province’s emergency power bill

The BC Chamber of Commerce is pushing back against a controversial bill out of Victoria it says would negatively impact its members’ operations.

Earlier this month, the B.C. government introduced legislation, known as Bill 7, that will give it sweeping power to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs in real time, without waiting for approval from the Legislature.

When the bill was first introduced, the BC Conservatives called the move “anti democratic,” while the BC Greens said they were likely to support it, as long as the right checks and balances are put in place.

In an open letter to Premier David Eby and Attorney General Niki Sharma Thursday, the BC Chamber of Commerce joined the voices decrying Bill 7, saying it has strong reservations about the bill’s potential reach.

“Our members are concerned that the sweeping powers Bill 7 will grant to the Government will negatively impact their operations, present and future,” the letter said.

The chamber says one of its greatest concerns is the lack of guardrails to limit the government’s ability to amend other legislation if the action is deemed to support the economy.

One section of the bill, the chamber points out, “allows the Government to remove or impose new conditions on existing licences, permits or other authorizations.”

It says the bill is unjustified and potentially authoritarian.

“While we understand your Government’s desire to move swiftly in the face of threats from a foreign jurisdiction, it has not articulated why the current rules governing the operations of the Legislature preclude it from seeking the support of elected officials in a timely way,” said the letter.

It says the bill goes too far, creating uncertainty for businesses in B.C. and undermining the province’s ability to stabilize and grow its economy.

Earlier this week, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon defended the bill from critics, telling 1130 NewsRadio that the level of uncertainty that the Trump administration presents shows the need to change course at a moment’s notice.

“It’s important to keep in mind that we are about to face something that we’ve never faced before, and we don’t know where it’s going to come,” Kahlon said.

Kahlon says a number of measures have been put in place to ensure the power is only used to respond to foreign threats, like tariffs from both the U.S. and China.

“We’ve said clearly to stakeholders that we’ve met with is often the critique we hear is government acts slow when this type of thing happens. We need to be able to move quickly and respond,” he said. “This is what the tool is designed for us to do.”

“I think the public is understanding that we’ve got a massive threat to our sovereignty, a massive threat to workers and their livelihoods coming toward,” he added.

Kahlon says that amid the critiques from stakeholders over the days since the bill has been tabled, Attorney General Niki Sharma has been “listening to folks that have been sending suggestions.”

“If there are some adjustments to the bill, we’ll certainly be making that public,” Kahlon explained.

“We’ve heard already from many stakeholders that after going through in detail why the bill is being introduced, what the guardrails are, there’s a better understanding of why we need it. Now the question is, ‘are there additional measures that we can consider to both strengthen it but also ensure that there are better guardrails there?’ That’s the conversation happening right now,” Kahlon added.

If passed, Bill 7 would expire by 2027.

—With files from Angelyna Mintz, Charlie Carey, and Raynaldo Suarez