Canadian government pitches border 'strike force' to address Trump’s tariff threat

New details on border spending Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc offered specifics on the new spending to strengthen the border.

The federal government will pitch a five-point plan on border security in hopes of appeasing U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariff threat.

Finance, Public Safety, and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc led a late Tuesday afternoon news conference in Ottawa to announce details of the plan, accompanied by Immigration Minister Marc Miller, International Trade Minister Mary Ng, and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks.

The plan’s five pillars include:

“It's an important step to show Canadians and our American partners that we share their concern around border security and border integrity,” said LeBlanc.

Trump has suggested tariffs could begin as soon as he’s sworn in on Jan. 20, unless Canada (and Mexico) satisfy his concerns about drugs and migrants at the border.

Monday’s fall fiscal update budgeted $1.3-billion over six years for border security. Of that total, $42 million was earmarked for the RCMP, with $790 million for Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). No additional financial details were offered on Tuesday.

LeBlanc said information and intelligence sharing between both countries would be strengthened under the federal government’s plan.

“We will propose to the American partners the creation of a new North American joint strike force to target transnational organized crime,” said LeBlanc. “This new joint strike force could include, for example, support in operational searches, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated border enforcement teams, and new technical operations capacity and related infrastructure.

“This will also rely on the long standing and existing collaboration the RCMP and CBSA have with municipal and provincial police forces, but it will now be expanded obviously to include our American partners.”

LeBlanc said the federal government also planned to create an around-the-clock aerial intelligence task force that would include helicopters, drones, and mobile surveillance towers.

Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation’s board of directors, said he’s eager to learn more specific details about the plan and how RCMP staffing may be affected.

In a pre-budget submission, the federation called on the federal government to create up to 1,000 new officer positions over the next four-year at a cost of $200 million. Under this plan, up to 150 officers between the RCMP and CBSA are expected to be recruited in the short-term.

“I don’t know if our members on the ground, in the long-term, can keep up the pace of a short-term redeployment to bolster the border,” said Sauvé, in an interview after Tuesday’s announcement. “It would need to be a significant commitment from the government to new bodies – and we’re talking close to 1,000 if not more new bodies – that can bolster the 9,000-kilometre border area.”