The federal government is expected to announce border-security investments in the weeks ahead, either through the fall economic statement or separately if parliamentary gridlock continues, a senior government official said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that Ottawa is prepared to pump more money into the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Mr. LeBlanc said earlier that Ottawa is talking with the RCMP and CBSA “to see what additional tools or additional resources they may need to do the work Canadians expect them to do and that our American partners want to do in collaboration with us.” He referred to “new technologies, drones, helicopters and additional human resources in the case of surge requirements.”
Ottawa’s pledge to spend more on border security followed an emergency first ministers’ meeting Wednesday between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial and territorial leaders to address Mr. Trump’s announcement that when he takes power in January, both Canada and Mexico will face 25-per-cent tariffs on their products until they take sufficient action on illegal crossings and drugs.
Commercial and private vehicles enter the U.S. from Canada at a port of entry at Blaine, Wash, on Nov. 26.David Ryder/Getty Images
Other than a brief exception this week, the government has not been able to put forward any bills or motions for debate in the House of Commons since Sept. 26. That’s when the Conservatives launched a form of procedural protest over the government’s refusal to fully release documents related to a green technology fund that the House of Commons requested through a motion in June.
A source familiar with the matter said border measures would likely be announced in a fall economic statement unless the government determined that parliamentary gridlock prevented it, in which case the measures would be dealt with separately. It’s possible the fall economic statement could be pushed back to the Commons’ final sitting days in December, which are scheduled to end on Dec. 17, the source said.
A second senior government official said the Liberal government is looking at alternatives to delivering the fall economic statement on the floor of the House of Commons because of the current gridlock in Parliament.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
