Canada launches $1.3 billion border security initiative after Trump pressured Trudeau

On Monday, the Canadian government proposed a budget of 1.3 billion for border security following a threat by President-elect Donald Trump to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian products going into the US unless the country cracked down on the illegal flow of narcotics and migrants entering the United States. The funding would consist of establishing a new joint "strike force" to combat organized crime, as well as supplying helicopters, drones, and mobile surveillance towers to the RCMP, the CBC reported.

The network reported that the government's border strategy will focus on the detection and disruption of the fentanyl trade, the tightening of the immigration and asylum system, the improvement of operational coordination, the introduction of new instruments for law enforcement, and the increase in information-sharing.

Ottawa has also pledged to deploy artificial intelligence and imaging technologies to assist law enforcement and border officials in identifying illicit narcotics prior to their entry into Canada in order to address concerns around the flow of fentanyl which could ultimately end up in the United States. Additionally, the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) is receiving funding from the government to train new dog teams to detect illicit drugs and to deploy new chemical detection instruments at high-risk ports of entry.

According to Reuters, in the 12 months ending in October, the US Border Patrol arrested over 23,000 illegal immigrants near the US-Canada border, more than twice as many as the previous year. To compare, 1.5 million illegal migrants were arrested during that same time period at the US-Mexico border. Trump has also threatened Mexico with the same tariffs.

The conservative-leaning province of Alberta announced a new border patrol unit of its own last week in response to Trump's tariffs threats. Ottawa's border funding announcement comes shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence late last month.