The same day, that the Republicans at the state level in Alaska worked to affirm their close relationship with Canada in the midst of the commercial war of US President Donald Trump and the threats of annexation, an Alaska senator warned the prime minister of British Columbia that “you do not want to mess with Alaska.”
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, from the Republican Party, made the comments in an interview with a Anchorage Radio Station published on its Facebook page.
During the conversation, which played issues ranging from the development of energy to Ukraine, he asked Sullivan, one of the two senators who represent the State in Washington, about BC that introduced legislation that gives the province the ability to impose new rates in US commercial trucks that are directed to Alaska.
“I do not know the prime ministers of the different provinces, but it is a slightly dangerous game,” said Sullivan before launching his desire to repeal, either through the Senate or by Trump’s executive order, the passenger ship services law.
According to the law, ships built abroad cannot transport passengers between two US ports without a stop in a foreign country. The law is intended to protect ourselves from shipping interests, as well as the Jones Law that applies the same rules to load ships.
Many cruises to Alaska stop at BC, mainly Vancouver, but also Nanaimo, Victoria and Prince Rupert, bringing important tourist income to the economy of the province.
Sullivan says he would like to see that rule repealed, noting that it was done when Covid-19 restrictions were in place.
“Canada, you don’t want to mess with Alaska. And if you do, we are going to work hard so that our cruises overlook your ports, and that will greatly help our economy,” said Sullivan. “They are playing a dangerous game here, and I hope they go back.”
‘We can’t imagine Alaska without Canada’
BC Prime Minister David Eby said he had no current plans to promulgate tolls, but wants the ability to do so if Trump intensifies his actions against Canada.
“This is not something we would do lightly,” journalists told Friday. “We know that the consequences for Alaska inhabitants are a big problem. We hope they respond in kind. Commercial wars only harm people.”
He hopes the Alaska will worry about the consequences of a commercial war.
“We need Alaska inhabitants to send a message to Donald Trump about how intertwined we are, about the connections between our economies,” he said.
That message was heard in the Alaska State Capitol building on Friday afternoon when republican representative Chuck Kopp presented a joint resolution of the House of Representatives, Recognize and honor the relationship between Canada and Alaska, which described as “an unqualified statement of the strong ties of friendship, shared history, mutual defense and support that our state has limited to Canada for centuries.”
A joint resolution of the almost identical Senate is also moving through the Alaska Senate, sponsored by Republican Cathy Giessel, who has also spoken against the commercial war.
“The friendship, trust and affection we have for our Canadian neighbors extends to their identity as citizens of the Sovereign Nation of Canada,” Kapp said at Friday’s meeting, pointing to a map of the two countries. “We can’t imagine Alaska without Canada.”
Kopp and several other speakers highlighted the joint effort to build the Alaska road from northern BC to Alaska during World War II, as well as the number of families and friendships covered by both sides of the border.
He also invited to talk about Yukon Ranj Pillai, president of the Arctic Winter Games and several members of the Skagway border community, Alaska.
Skagway’s vice mayor, Deb Potter, asked politicians to “think of Alaska’s inhabitants about their party”, and encouraged them to affirm the resolution, which is still moving around the house.
Kopp said he hoped that messages from the inhabitants of Alaska were heard by the powers that are in other parts of the United States.
“The temperature is increasing among countries according to economic reasons,” he said. “This resolution recognizes that relations are important and are much more important than perhaps the almighty dollar sometimes.”
