Feds adding more resources at border: Minister LeBlanc

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the federal government will “absolutely” be adding more Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and RCMP ‘human resources’ at the border.

His comments come following U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat of a blanket 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until the neighbouring countries eliminate what Trump the flow of illegal drugs and migrants over the border.

In an interview with CTV News Channel’s Power Play, airing Monday, LeBlanc told host Vassy Kapelos his department has been working on increasing border security for months, and insisted the measures are not to appease Trump.

When asked whether the added resources will include blunting contractions in the CBSA budget, LeBlanc said “yes.”

“I’m working on that with the minister of finance (Chrystia Freeland),” LeBlanc said, adding his government will “have more to say in the coming weeks.”

The CBSA’s funding contracted in the most recent budget cycle by 2.6 per cent, according to documents on the federal government’s website. 

Leblanc insisted front-line officers have not been cut. “They’re not people in uniform securing the border,” he told Kapelos. “There could be administrative savings and different back office functions.”

When pressed though, the Minister said the CBSA’s budget would not contract going forward.

“We have said very clearly that we’re prepared to increase both the human resources and the equipment for the RCMP and CBSA,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

LeBlanc also pointed to a round of layoffs at CBSA in 2012 under former prime minister Stephen Harper, at which time 1,100 jobs were cut. The union representing CBSA workers told Kapelos last week, however, those cuts were never reversed, and the agency remains about 2,000 workers short.

“The union can have its own views,” LeBlanc said. “I talked to the president of the CBSA, who talks to me about the resources they need and how the government has supported the work that they’ve done.”

LeBlanc’s comments on increasing border security echo those of Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who likewise said in an interview for CTV’s Question Period that the Canadian presence at the border it shares with the U.S. will be “very visible.”

“It’s important for the Americans and for Canadians to see that the border is secure, that our security posture at the border is robust,” LeBlanc said.

He also said while this work has been ongoing for “a number of months,” it’s “incumbent upon a responsible government” to show the Americans what’s being accomplished.

Border security was a major topic of conversation during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s surprise meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, according to senior government sources. LeBlanc was one of just three Canadian officials at the table with Trump and several other American guests.

LeBlanc said the dinner with Trump was “very cordial” and gave the Liberals a “much better idea of the American concerns,” pointing to the border, drugs, and illegal or irregular migration.

Two government sources also tell CTV News the Canadian delegation at the Trump meeting on Friday were told the tariffs are unavoidable in the immediacy, but solutions in the longer term are on the table particularly if the border is better secured.

“I think it’s too early to know whether the tariffs on day one of his administration will apply,” LeBlanc said. “If they would apply, for how long? Did he say that? We have a lot of work to do between now and Jan. 20.”

When asked whether he believes Trump is using the threat of tariffs to accomplish public safety goals, as opposed to economic ones, LeBlanc said he wouldn’t speak for the incoming American administration.

With files from CTV News’ Supervising Producer Stephanie Ha