File Photo (Image Credit: The Canadian Press)

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: While working to stem tariff threat, Eby can’t neglect systemic healthcare problems in B.C.

Feb 28, 2025 | 12:30 PM

IT’S NOT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND why governments at all levels are putting their focus on protecting and growing the economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten massive import tariffs against Canada, believing they will be his very own cash cow.

In actual fact, most credible economists and political leaders agree these punitive tariffs have the potential to absolutely devastate the economies on both sides of the border.

The immense scale of this threat is not lost on Premier David Eby, who is spending an inordinate amount of time and effort on diplomacy beyond the borders of our province.

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While he does that, the B.C. healthcare system is balancing on a razor’s edge.

Multiple communities saw emergency room closures this past week due to insufficient staffing.

In Merritt, the emergency room was closed for three overnight periods over the past week, leaving a community of 8,000 to traverse high mountain highways in winter to find healthcare for 13 hours at a time.

At the same time that rural ERs were closing, the wait to get emergency care in Abbotsford reached nearly 12 hours Wednesday night.

That’s enough time to go to YVR, get on a flight to anywhere else in Canada, disclose your urgent medical issue in the air and force an emergency landing some place with an ER ready to see you.

This issue hasn’t gotten any better in 2025 than it was 2024 and 2023 and so forth.

The tariffs arrive next week, if President Trump can be taken at his word — which is generally a bad idea. He could have a change of heart or some indigestion before then and say something completely contradictory.

The BC government will scramble to prepare for what is spoken about and react to what is done.

In the meantime, our leaders can’t take their eyes off the ball in their efforts to fix systemic problems in healthcare staffing.

Keeping all these plates spinning at the same time presents a massive challenge, but this NDP government is just a few months removed from telling us it was up to the task.

Now’s the time to prove it.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.