Border plan promises round-the-clock aerial surveillance, drug detection support

OTTAWA — The RCMP plans to create a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of Canada’s border using helicopters, drones and surveillance towers.

The move is part of the federal government’s $1.3-billion upgrade to border security and monitoring to appease U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s concerns about the flow of migrants and illegal drugs.

Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. as soon as he is inaugurated next month unless both countries move to improve border security.

Canada will also propose to the United States the creation of a North American “joint strike force” to target organized crime groups that work across borders.

In addition, the government intends to provide new technology, tools and resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to seek out deadly fentanyl using chemical detection, artificial intelligence and canine teams.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told a news conference Tuesday he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said LeBlanc, who tried to play down the notion Canada was simply bowing to American demands.

“The fight against fentanyl is very much a fight that Canadians want to have because of its impact in Canada,” he said. “Deepening, strengthening, being more visible in the posture at the border is something that we’re happy to do with our American partners.”

The announcement followed a promise in the fall economic statement Monday to earmark the money over six fiscal years for the RCMP, the border agency, Public Safety Canada and the cyberspies at the Communications Security Establishment.

Among the other planned measures:

— a Canadian Drug Profiling Centre to complement existing laboratory capacity by allowing for more specialized analysis of synthetic drug samples, helping determine where substances were made;

— a Precursor Risk Management Unit to increase oversight over chemicals used to make drugs and monitor emerging illegal drug trends;

— an obligation for port owners and operators to provide the border agency with the space and facilities needed to conduct export inspections, just as they currently do for imports;

— stronger efforts against money laundering to help starve organized crime groups of profits from human smuggling and drug and firearms trafficking;

— and new restrictions on countries that do not rapidly facilitate the return of their citizens in the event of fraudulent entry or a removal order.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, who also attended the news conference, said the goal “for us is get the technology out there as soon as we can.”

“I can’t just buy a helicopter tomorrow, but there are processes where you can rent the helicopter, and we’re exploring every facet.”

Duheme said an aim of the joint strike force would be develop specialists on fentanyl, bringing together law enforcement partners both in Canada and abroad.

The union representing rank-and-file Mounties welcomed the move to spend more on border security.

National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé said in a statement Monday that members had been protecting the border with limited resources, and the new money will allow them to continue delivering on their mandate.

Aaron McCrorie, the border services agency’s vice-president of intelligence and enforcement, said in a recent interview that irregular migration and smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl are common concerns for Canada and the United States.

“These aren’t concerns that are unique to the United States. We share those same concerns,” he said. “In that sense, it really speaks to the need for us to work collaboratively.”

McCrorie said the Canadian border agency is working closely with U.S. counterparts including Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as with agencies in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“Criminal enterprises, organized crime, they don’t respect international boundaries. They collaborate, they exploit weaknesses in the system,” McCrorie said.

“And so the best way to confront them is to collaborate on our side, fill those gaps, support each other’s efforts.”

He said Canada’s border agency has two targeting officers embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the American agency plans to soon send a targeting officer to Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press