Canada just proposed a new border security plan to appease Trump

Less than a month after Donald Trump revealed he planned to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods entering the United States unless Ottawa solved its border issues, Canada has come up with a plan to placate the President-Elect. 

On November 25th, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Canada and Mexico would be slapped with a 25% if they didn't quickly solve the dual problems of drugs, especially fentanyl, and illegal immigrants entering the United States from their borders. 

While Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum has gone on the offensive against the proposal, the Canadian government has taken a different approach and is offering up a new solution for Trump to consider: a joint policing force for the northern border.

According to Politico, Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly discussed details of Ottawa’s plans with Trump’s ‘border czar’ Tom Homan on December 16th and then announced the plan later that day. 

“It’s an important step to show Canadians and our American partners that we share their concern around border security and border integrity. We have taken note of President Trump’s comments,” LeBlanc said, adding there was “a lot of work to do.”

“It’s important that, I think, people understand, and I said this to our American counterparts, the fight against fentanyl is very much a fight that Canadians want to have because of its impact in Canada,” LeBlanc continued. 

Canada revealed a $1.3 billion border security package that included the joint border force proposal that would see dedicated synthetic drug units and the deployment of new aerial surveillance task forces added to Canada’s border according to Global News.  

The new aerial surveillance task forces are of particular note and will reportedly include around-the-clock surveillance between Canada’s ports of entry. However, a timeline for when the new force will be put in place was not outlined. 

According to a press release, the Government of Canada will increase its support for law enforcement agencies in detecting, intercepting, and addressing fentanyl and its precursor chemicals by providing new tools to detect the drug before it enters Canada. 

Canada Border Services Agency will now also train and deploy a new canine team meant to intercept drugs entering the country and will deploy new chemical detection tools at high-risk ports of entry. 

The proposed plan will also include enhanced coordination with US law enforcement at the border and increased information sharing between the two countries, as well as the limiting of traffic at the border according to the Government of Canada. 

What form the proposed joint policing force will take has yet to be seen, but it may be a move in the right direction if Ottawa wants to avoid the harsh tariffs Trump has planned for the Canadians based on his assumption of the situation at the northern border. 

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