The federal government is promising a suite of measures to disrupt the flow of fentanyl and strengthen 24/7 surveillance of the Canada-U.S. border — including outfitting the RCMP with helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers and creating a new “strike force.”
Newly sworn-in Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, flanked by a handful of cabinet colleagues, provided more details Tuesday about how the government plans to spend $1.3 billion to secure the Canada-U.S. border and allay U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s concerns about irregular migrants and drugs.
The drive to strengthen border security follows Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports, which he claimed was in response to concerns about border security, migrants and illegal drugs, especially fentanyl. Tariffs at that level could devastate Canada’s economy.
The government’s plan is based on what it calls five pillars: detecting and disrupting the fentanyl trade, introducing new tools for law enforcement, enhancing operational coordination, increasing information-sharing and minimizing the number of migrants crossing the border.
To address concerns about the flow of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, Ottawa is promising to use artificial intelligence and imaging tools to help law enforcement and border officials detect illegal drugs before they enter Canada.
The government is giving the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) funds to train new dog teams to sniff out illegal drugs, and new chemical detection tools to deploy at high-risk ports of entry. The news release did not say how much of the available money the border agency is getting.
Health Canada is getting a chunk of the border package money to create a chemical precursor risk management unit, which Ottawa says will “be able to stop illegitimate imports and provide better insight into precursor chemicals and distribution channels.”
Tuesday’s announcement pitches a new aerial intelligence taskforce for the RCMP using helicopters and drones the federal government has promised already. The news release did not say how much new equipment the Mounties are getting, or what it will cost.
The government said counter-drone technology will help the RCMP provide 24/7 surveillance between ports of entry.
Money for intelligence collection
The federal government also is promising to invest an unknown sum in expanding the intelligence collection capacity of the RCMP and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to better target transnational organized crime and fentanyl trafficking. CSE is responsible for collecting foreign signals intelligence.
Monday’s fall economic statement — largely overshadowed by Chrystia Freeland’s shocking resignation from cabinet —proposes legislative requirements that would give CBSA new powers to inspect goods destined for export.
If they go ahead, the chances would expressly require that port owners and operators provide the CBSA with the space and facilities it needs, free of charge, to conduct export inspections
The economic statement also proposes multiple legal changes related to money-laundering that are meant to target organized crime in Iran, China and at home. They include more stringent administrative and criminal penalties and other compliance tools.
The border plan includes multiple promises to bolster intelligence-sharing with the U.S. and increase operational coordination domestically. It proposes creating “regional hubs” to bring federal, provincial and local law enforcement officers together on organized crime and illegal drug files.
At Issue special edition: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigns from cabinet hours before she was to deliver the fall economic statement. Can Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political career survive the blow, and what comes next from the opposition?
LeBlanc said Canada will also propose to the United States the creation of a new “North American joint strike force” to target transnational organized crime.
As it indicated last week, Ottawa is also looking at the flow of people. Tuesday’s plan promises changes to curb the practice of “flagpoling” — a way for holders of student or work visas to renew them quickly and easily.
LeBlanc said he has spoken already to Trump’s chosen border czar Tom Homan. But it remains unclear whether the measures proposed by the Trudeau government will be enough to discourage Trump on tariffs.
Freeland says she was at odds with Trudeau on Trump
Trump’s return to the White House has shaken up official Ottawa and — as Freeland said in her resignation letter Monday — has exposed disagreements within the Trudeau government itself.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and posted to social media, Freeland, who has been finance minister since 2020, said the only “honest and viable path” for her was to leave cabinet after the prime minister approached her Friday about moving her to another cabinet role.
Freeland, who led Canada’s trade team during Trump’s first administration, wrote that she had been at odds with the prime minister about the best path forward for Canada in the face of Trump’s tariff threat.
“We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war,” Freeland wrote,
“That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”
Trump entered the conversation late Monday, taking a jab at Freeland on his site Truth Social.
“Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada,” he wrote. “She will not be missed!!!”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump’s post shows “that Justin Trudeau and his chaotic clown show makes Canada weak.”
He said Canadians shouldn’t judge the Liberals’ border policies on the price tag alone.
“We should judge it based on what it can do. How many helicopters, how many drones, how many boots on the ground, that’s the question I will be asking when I am prime minister,” he said.
“And how do we deliver it for the lowest possible price to taxpayers.”
The head of the union representing thousands of Mounties is already welcoming the federal plan.
National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé says his members have been working to protect the border with limited resources.