The RCMP will 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 concerns of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump 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.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has discussed parts of the plan with American officials and that he is optimistic about its reception.
Canada will also propose to the United States to create a North American “joint strike force” to target organized crime groups that work across borders.
The government also intends to provide new technology, tools and resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to seek out fentanyl using chemical detection, artificial intelligence and canine teams.
The union representing rank-and-file Mounties is welcoming the federal plan unveiled in the fall economic update Monday.
Money, to be spread over six fiscal years, is earmarked for the RCMP, Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and the cyberspies at the Communications Security Establishment.
RCMP members enforce laws between official points of entry and investigate criminal activities related to the border.
National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé says members have 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 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.
