Trump tariff: Federal border plan coming Monday, Smith says

The much-anticipated federal plan to address issues at the Canada-U.S. border will be unveiled on Monday according to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Smith says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laid out the plan to premiers on a virtual call with the 13 provincial and territorial leaders Wednesday afternoon.

“He wanted to make sure that he brought it by us first before making the call to the U.S. president,” Smith said in an interview Thursday on CTV’s Power Play referring to incoming president Donald Trump. “And then, of course, we’ll see more detail around it on December the 16th.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to deliver her fall economic statement on that same day. Until now, the federal government has been reluctant to say when it plans on presenting its response to Trump’s demands that Canada tighten up the northern border, as he claims there is a significant flow of illegal migrants and illegal drugs from Canada into the U.S.

“It’ll roll out when it rolls out,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said after meeting with premiers virtually Wednesday afternoon. “We recognize that there is a moment where we can make increased investments in both the RCMP and CBSA, some of it may require legislative authorities.”

Smith and other premiers have underscored the urgency to beef up security along the Canada-U.S. border to prevent a Trump administration from imposing 25 per cent tariffs on all imported goods from Canada.

“We got to do whatever we can to demonstrate that we take the border issues seriously,” Smith said on CTV’s Power Play. “We’re very close, though, to the inauguration on Jan. 20, and so the question is, can a response be rolled out fast enough in order to be able to stop that (application of tariffs)?”

Asked for confirmation of the rollout date, a spokesperson from LeBlanc’s office referred to the comments made by the minister during Wednesday’s news conference after the meeting with premiers.

Smith’s comments come on the same day the premier unveiled her provincial strategy to increase security on the border with the state of Montana. The $29-million plan includes the creation of a new unit called the Interdiction Patrol Team (IPT), which will be under the command of Alberta sheriffs.

Alberta’s IPT will be supported by 50 specially trained sheriffs, four patrol dogs, 10 cold-weather drones that can operate in high winds and four narcotics analyzers to test for illicit drugs.

Smith is also creating a two-kilometre-wide zone along the Alberta border called a “red zone,” deemed critical infrastructure, “to enable the sheriffs to arrest individuals found attempting to cross the border illegally or attempting to traffic illegal drugs or weapons without needing a warrant,” the premier said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Alberta’s plan is to have the IPT up and running by early 2025.