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Canada to Strengthen Border Security After Trumps Threat
Canada’s Public Safety Minister has announced plans to increase its spending on border security after President-elect Donald Trump promised to levy heavy tariffs because of illegal immigration across the US-Canada border.
Following the meeting with Trudeau, Canada’s public safety minister, Dominic LeBlanc, told reporters, “We believe there is a circumstance where we can make additional investments to ensure that all of the necessary measures are in place and will continue to be in place.” Of course, he declined to disclose how much additional federal government funding would make available.
Canada’s provincial governments have blasted Justin Trudeau for failing to emphasize border security.
On Wednesday, Ontario leader Doug Ford hoped the meeting with Trudeau would be “the start of a more proactive approach from the federal government” and would show it “takes the security of our border seriously . . or risk the economic chaos of Trump tariffs”.
Quebec’s premier, François Legault, an ardent critic of border security, said late Wednesday: “It is critical to secure the borders in both directions.”
We do not want a new wave of immigrants, but Mr. Trudeau must present a plan to comfort Mr. Trump.”
The US-Canada border is the longest in the world.
The US-Canada border is the world’s longest, spanning approximately 9,000 kilometres on land and ocean. Land security is modest; few walls or fences are sometimes denoted with simple stone markers along residential streets.
While major road crossings have checkpoints, the border is mostly managed by mobile patrols, making it vulnerable to smugglers of migrants, drugs, and firearms.
Tom Homan, Trump’s new border Tsar, stated in a recent TV interview that Canada cannot be a route for terrorists into the US. “It’s an extreme national security vulnerability on the northern border, and it’s one of the things I’ll tackle,” according to him.
According to Homan, the number of migrants apprehended attempting to cross from Canada into the United States increased by about 600 percent, from 27,180 in 2021 to 198,929 in 2024.
The Canadian side of the border is manned by 8,500 frontline Canada Border Services Agency employees, who monitor the nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.6 billion) in products and services and the over 400,000 persons who cross each day.
However, their union believes an additional 2,000-3,000 border officers are required. “The union has been vocal about the lack of staff at the border for years,” Customs and Immigration Union president Mark Weber stated.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to deport millions of undocumented migrants once he takes office early next year, and Canadian officials are concerned that many would flee to Canada to escape being apprehended by US immigration agents.
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