Premier David Eby kicked off his 10-day trade mission with a stop in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, June 2,
Meanwhile, a high-profile Indigenous leader bowed out of the trip, citing the passage of controversial infrastructure and energy bills in the legislature last week.
Because Eby was abroad, Attorney General Niki Sharma, also the deputy premier, took his place at the first ministers' meeting in Saskatoon, Sask.
The 10-day trade mission to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia is being billed as a way to diversify and strengthen British Columbia's economy in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats. Eby left on Saturday, the day after Trump threatened to double steel and aluminum tariffs.
"Now is the time for us to diversify our trade relationships around the world and to ensure that we have strong relationships with the countries that want to do business with us," Eby said in an airport news conference before his flight.
He began with a briefing from Ian McKay, Canada's ambassador to Japan, before visiting shops that sold B.C. products and meeting with potential investors.
Eby's next stops included a Seijo Ishii supermarket, where he picked up a bag of Surrey, B.C.-made Hardbite potato chips, a Tokyo Arc’teryx retail store, and a meeting with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security to discuss trade opportunities for critical minerals and energy.
B.C. Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee was supposed to join Eby on the trip but backed out following the passage of bills 14 and 15, two pieces of legislation aimed at fast-tracking major projects, but which Teegee and others say violate consultation commitments.
“How can we participate in trade missions to promote resource development when this government has just rammed through legislation that tramples our rights and threatens our territories?" Teegee asked in a Friday news release.
Eby's message at the airport was to reassure Teegee and others that consultation is coming as those pieces of legislation are put into action.
"For the regional chief and for many chiefs across the province, we're gonna have to demonstrate our commitment," Eby said. "Words will not be sufficient."
