Canada has vowed to implement new set of security measures along its US border, including fortified surveillance and a joint “strike force” to tackle transnational organized crime.
The pledge came after a threat from President-elect Donald Trump to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the nation does not secure its border to the flow of illegal migrants and illegal drugs.
Economists have said such tariffs could strike a blow to Canada’s economy.
While announcing details of the plan, Canada’s minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs, Dominic Leblanc, stated the federal government would commit C$1.3bn ($900m; £700m) to the plan.
The measures “will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration while ensuring the free flow of people and goods that are at the core of North America’s prosperity”, LeBlanc said.
The five pillars of the measure cover the disruption of the fentanyl trade, new tools for the enforcement of law, improved coordination with US law enforcement, better information sharing and minimizing traffic at the border.
The pillars include a proposed aerial surveillance task force which includes helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers between ports of entry.
Also, the government is giving the Canada Border Service Agency funds to train new dog teams to detect illegal drugs, and new tools to detect high-risk ports of entry.
LeBlanc revealed further details on the “joint strike force” for Canadian and US authorities, saying it would include “support in operational surges, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated enforcement teams, and new operational capacity and infrastructure”.
The new plan seems to correspond to the concerns raised by Trump in recently: the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the US.
According to US Border Patrol data on migrant encounters, the number of crossings at the US-Canada border is much lower than at the southern border.
LeBlanc stated that he and other officials had a “preliminary” conversation with Trump’s incoming “border tsar” Tom Homan about the new plan.
He said: “I’m encouraged by that conversation.”
Recall that LeBlanc was present at last month’s meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
