TORONTO: Canada has announced increased border and immigration restrictions after a threat from US President-elect Donald Trump.
Four Canadian ministers announced a border security plan yesterday that they had privately presented to the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, which emphasized Canadian border surveillance, intelligence and technology.
Public Safety, Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominique LeBlanc told reporters that Canadian ministers met with Trump’s border minister Tom Homan and discussed the border security plan with him.
LeBlanc and his colleagues announced a plan for a “joint strike force” to patrol the US-Canada border with helicopters, drones, surveillance towers and sniffer dogs, as well as to target international organized crime.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government says it will invest C$1.3 billion ($909 million) over six years in border security. The plan will focus on combating fentanyl, illegal immigration and organized crime.
Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on Canadian goods if Canada and Mexico do not stop the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States.
U.S. authorities arrested more than 23,000 people near the U.S.-Canada border in the 12 months ending in October, more than double the number from the previous year but a small fraction of the 1.5 million people apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border during that period.
Canadian police say they have installed more cameras and sensors along the most densely populated part of the border over the past four years.
