THE BC NDP caucus said on Wednesday that members of B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s caucus met directly with U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra and agreed to advocate to remove B.C.’s countermeasures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade attack, according to B.C. Conservative Forestry Critic Ward Stamer.

Stamer said on Tuesday on CKNW that American liquor would “absolutely” go back on shelves under the B.C. Conservatives, revealing that he said the same to the Trump administration directly: “That would be a measure of good faith and that’s what we suggested to the American counterparts a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, we aren’t the government right now.”

When challenged on Trump’s history of arbitrarily hitting Canada with more tariffs despite Canadian concessions, Stamer defended Trump unequivocally: “No, he doesn’t. I disagree with that. I think that these are negotiating tactics.”

Although Stamer’s offer to Hoekstra preceded Trump’s recent escalation, Stamer stood by the plan to drop the ban in “good faith.”

A B.C. Conservative press release followed the interview, attempting to blame the tariffs solely on Premier David Eby while letting Trump completely off the hook: “British Columbia cannot afford a trade war, but that’s exactly where the NDP’s reckless and reactive trade policies have led us.”

Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth, said: “We already knew that the pro-Trump faction was in control of the B.C. Conservatives, but this is still shocking behaviour. Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her team are so loyal to Donald Trump that they’re justifying his attacks on our country and meeting directly with his administration to undermine our negotiating position. Every elected official should be on Team Canada, but Kerry-Lynne Findlay is on Team Trump. British Columbians can’t afford a Conservative government that would sell them out to Trump.”