B.C. Premier David Eby to discuss trade, liquor with top U.S. diplomat in Canada

VICTORIA — American duties on Canadian softwood lumber and the ban of American alcohol by B.C. will be on the table when Premier David Eby meets the U.S. ambassador to Canada in Victoria today.

Ambassador Pete Hoesktra is the same representative who said last year that U.S. President Donald Trump thinks Canada is “mean and nasty” for avoiding American travel and banning its alcohol

Eby says he plans to bring up the softwood lumber dispute as the forest companies faces tariffs and duties of about 45 per cent, and he expects Hoesktra to bring up the removal of American liquor from government stores.

The premier says he will also talk to Hoesktra about the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade that is scheduled for review this summer.

While B.C. is diversifying its trade, Eby says the province needs to have “good relations” with the United States, because it “cannot replace that trading market.”

Eby says he will also use the meeting to ask Hoesktra to tell the U.S. administration that adopting the same time zone along the West Coast would be “a good win” for both countries after his government announced the province won’t be shifting back the clock in November.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press