The government of British Columbia filed legislation Thursday that would permit the province to levy tolls on vehicles between the Lower 48 and Alaska.
The bill, known formally as the Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act, had been expected since BC Premier David Eby announced his intentions last week.
Introducing the bill at the British Columbia Legislative Assembly in Victoria, Deputy Premier Niki Sharma said the bill “provides a range of authorities to enable the government to quickly respond to the recent unprecedented threats to our province from the United States.”
The bill does not automatically impose fees on vehicles traveling to and from Alaska, but it “just gives BC the tools to do so down the road if Trump continues to escalate his threats towards BC and Canada,” according to a statement from the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
“This is not something British Columbia wants to do, but we need to have this tool if the U.S. does not back away from their unjust tariffs,” the ministry said.
In addition to threatening tariffs on trade with Canada, President Donald Trump has threatened military action against the country and has said that it should be annexed to the United States in order to avoid economic consequences.
Sharma, speaking to the Legislative Assembly, said that if enacted, the bill would “allow government to impose a system of tolls, fees or other charges on vehicles using certain BC infrastructure, such as highways and coastal ferries. It will provide a broad, flexible power to government to address challenges to BC arising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction to support inter-provincial cooperation.”
According to the text of the bill, the amount of the tolls and their application would be decided by governmental officials.
The legislation would expire May 28, 2027, Sharma said.
“We did not ask for this trade war, but we will fight for BC’s economy, we will fight for BC’s workers, and we will fight for this province with every tool that we have. We will take a ‘Team Canada’ approach in our response, and I hope that every member of this House supports this bill,” she said.
The bill is expected to advance in the legislative process no sooner than March 31, after the Legislative Assembly returns from a weeklong spring recess.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has threatened to take economic action against British Columbia.
In a talk radio interview on Tuesday, Sullivan said he would seek to waive a federal law that requires foreign-registered cruise ships to stop in Canada when sailing between Washington state and Alaska.
All but a handful of the megaships that carry tourists to Alaska in the summer are registered to foreign countries, and the United States has already waived the law once before — in 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.
“You know, Canada, you don’t want to mess with Alaska,” Sullivan said in the radio interview. “If you do, we’re going to work hard on having our cruise ships bypass your ports, and that’ll help our economy tremendously, it’ll help our tourism industry tremendously, and it’ll really hurt their tourism.”
The British Columbia transport ministry said the cruise ship industry “employs thousands of people and supports hundreds of BC businesses who benefit from the arrival of ships.”
“We know that people want to experience British Columbia cities as part of their cruise experience,” the ministry said.