B.C. election campaign day 3: NDP takes aim at Trump trade war

It is day three of the election campaign in B.C. and the BC NDP and BC Green Party are holding events.

On Thursday morning, BC NDP Leader David Eby said they will bring in new “Built in B.C. and Canada” procurement rules for public infrastructure projects.

Building on his election campaign kick-off speech that said B.C. has to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump, Eby added the province must become its own best customer.

“Conservatives clearly would have rolled over for Trump, and their cuts would put the projects we’re building all over the province at risk,” Eby said.

“We can’t afford to abandon B.C. workers in the middle of a trade war.”

Eby said that this plan to build with materials from B.C. and Canada will apply to ministries, Crown agencies and health authorities, making sure they put those materials first, wherever possible.

He added that this approach will immediately apply to the construction of the North Coast Transmission Line in Northern B.C. as BC Hydro will be directed to build 70 per cent of Phase 1 towers and 100 per cent of Phase 2 towers with Canadian steel.

Eby also said that while minimum requirements for using B.C. and Canadian-made goods will be put in place, penalties will apply to U.S.-made goods and materials, which will count against those requirements.

The BC Green Party is holding an event at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

This story will be updated following that announcement.

The BC Conservatives and CentreBC do not have any events scheduled for Thursday.