The Municipality of North Cowichan is looking for ways to respond to the new U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
With a large Canadian flag prominently displayed behind the council table at its meeting on March 5, Mayor Rob Douglas said he has had some early discussions with staff about how North Cowichan’s procurement policies could be changed as a means of answering the tariffs.
“In my view, these tariffs, combined with [Trump’s] comments about making Canada the 51st state, are a threat to our sovereignty and it’s important now, more than ever, that we come together as Canadians in the face of this threat,” he said.
Just days earlier, the board at the Cowichan Valley Regional District unanimously voted for the district to explore options to buy products and services from Canadian sources and/or other nations instead of from the U.S. due to the tariffs.
As well, the City of Duncan decided to look to Canadian sources to provide the municipality with new collection carts for garbage, recycling and organics for when the new fully automated-garbage collection begins this spring instead of American manufacturers, citing the fiscal uncertainty caused by the tariffs.
Douglas said that not long ago, it would have been unthinkable that Canada’s closest ally and trading partner would launch a trade war against Canada, “but here we are today”.
“We’re all feeling anxious about what these tariffs will mean for the Canadian and B.C. economies, with many predicting that we’re heading for a recession,” he said. “We don’t yet know how this is going to play out at the local level, but we should expect to see impacts here in the municipality.”
Douglas said North Cowichan has businesses and major employers, particularly in the forest sector, that are dependent on U.S. markets and are bracing for what the future is going to look like.
He said he recently met with officials at Western Forest Products, which operates two sawmills and a remanufacturing plant in the municipality, to discuss the company’s current challenges and what North Cowichan can do to advocate for them at the provincial level.
Douglas pointed out that WFP is one of North Cowichan’s biggest taxpayers and one of its largest employers.
“They are concerned about the continuing impacts of the softwood lumber dispute and these new tariffs and what this means for their future,” he said.
“I’m also going to meet Paper Excellence [owner of the Crofton mill] to discuss their challenges as well and what we can do to support them. I’ve reached out to the province for a meeting to discuss these issues.”
