Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he’s meeting U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s border czar after Christmas to present Canada’s proposed $1.3 billion plan to secure the shared border.
Earlier this week, the minister — who for now serves as both finance minister and public safety minister following Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell resignation on Monday — introduced a suite of measures meant to strengthen 24/7 surveillance of the Canada-U.S. border.
The government is promising to supply the RCMP with helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers and is proposing a new joint “strike force” to work with the U.S. on sharing intelligence to disrupt the flow of fentanyl.
Speaking to reporters Friday in Dorchester, N.B., LeBlanc said he’s already had a “positive preliminary call” with veteran immigration official Tom Homan. Trump has tapped Homan as the official in charge of all U.S. border issues.
“We agreed to meet in the coming days after Christmas to talk about the package I announced,” said LeBlanc.
The push to beef up border security and get Ottawa’s plan on the desks of key Republicans follows Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports.
Trump has insisted the tariffs are in response to concerns about border security, migrants and illegal drugs, especially fentanyl.
Tom Homan speaks as Donald Trump listens at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)
The threat hangs over Canada-U.S. relations, despite data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that shows the amount of fentanyl seized last year along the northern border is just fraction of the amount taken at the Mexican border.
“I’m confident we have a cordial, collaborative discussion with Trump’s incoming administration, but we have a lot of work to do,” said LeBlanc.
“I don’t underestimate for a minute the threat those tariffs would mean to Canadian workers, the Canadian economy.”
Homan, who hails from an area of New York State not far from Ontario, has been a fierce critic of the northern border and has called it a “huge national security issue.”
He previously served as acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.