That this is an economically turbulent time is an understatement.
Tariff details keep changing but it is clear we’re in for a prolonged trade war with the US.
Economic impacts, so far, have been contained to industries targeted by sectoral tariffs like autos, steel, aluminum and forestry. The seemingly chaotic tariff rollout is creating uncertainty that leads businesses to delay investments and hiring, slowing the broader economy.
This trade war will fuel inflation and threaten more jobs, increasing hardship for families already struggling with affordability and economic insecurity. Worse, tariff threats consume much of the bandwidth of provincial and federal policymakers, stalling action on domestic issues.
Last fall’s BC election was fought over “kitchen-table priorities”—the affordability crisis, housing and access to essential services that drive quality of life. Yet the BC government shelved many election promises to focus on tariff threats, delivering a budget that prioritized caution over ambition. The result? Public services stretched beyond capacity, leaving vulnerable communities to fend for themselves.
This is short-sighted.
BC’s unabating affordability crisis demands bold solutions. So do rising inequality, the housing crisis, uneven access to health care and child care, growing homelessness and the climate emergency.
“This trade war will fuel inflation and threaten jobs.”
The trade war creates a generational opportunity to reduce dependence on exporting raw resources and pivot towards a cleaner, more diversified economy that meets people’s needs—from food security to value-added manufacturing to truly universal health care and child care access.
The good news: addressing kitchen-table priorities isn’t only morally right, it’s smart economic policy. Strategic public investments in affordable housing, public transit, mental health, child care and decarbonizing our economy create local jobs while making BC stronger, more resilient and more equitable. It’s a move that supports longer-term growth and buffers the province against future crises.
The BC government should focus on three critical components:
- Make strategic public investments to curb uncertainty and stimulate economic growth during trade volatility.
- Use government leverage to steer business activity toward solving societal challenges, not reinforcing a status quo that marginalizes so many.
- Build resilience through equity, not austerity. This means supporting low-income households that will be hardest hit by a tariff-induced economic slowdown, not only those employed in trade-exposed sectors.
Some claim we can’t afford it but the truth is BC is underinvesting in our future. We have a record-high deficit only because the government has been unwilling to consider bold revenue-raising options—new taxes on the wealthy and corporate profits—that could create fiscal room for critical investments while reducing widening inequality.
The trade war isn’t going away soon but BC’s affordability crisis can’t wait. Kicking the can down the road may look like budget caution but it will bring deeper economic pain.
Investing strategically in people and communities won’t just help alleviate kitchen-table concerns, it will lay the economic foundation for weathering whatever comes next.
