Canada highlights new helicopters, border measures amid Trump concerns

The federal government took steps Wednesday to roll out measures on protecting the Canada-U.S. border, addressing a key demand from Donald Trump.

The Canadian government has laid out a suite of new measures it says will reduce the flow of illegal migrants and illicit drugs over the border, with just days to go before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The announcement came amid Trump’s looming threat of imposing blanket 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada, and just ahead of the first in-person meeting between Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in nearly two years.

At a news conference in Ottawa on the sidelines of that highly anticipated premiers meeting, federal officials announced increased monitoring of the border — including new helicopters and drones — that will be in the air this week, in the hopes of allaying Trump’s concerns and staving off his tariff threats.

Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said starting Jan. 17, two new Blackhawk helicopters will patrol the border, along with 60 new drones. New aerial surveillance towers are also being erected.

Canada will also soon get its first-ever pre-border clearance operation, to be established in Cannon Corners, New York. The station will be staffed with both Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. border employees.

These new measures are part of the Liberal government’s pledged $1.3 billion to beef up border security, announced late last year by then-public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc and earmarked in the fall economic statement.

“We’re interested in making progress and showing the newly elected American government that we’re serious about our border relationship, that it’s integrated, that we do it together,” McGuinty said.

“We are hopeful and remain hopeful that the new incoming administration will understand just how incredibly serious we are on this northern border,” he also said.

Immigration changes and information sharing ‘mission critical’: minister

Last year, U.S. border authorities took more than 19,000 people into custody for crossing illegally into the country from Canada through unprotected terrain, such as deep woods and waterways.

Federal officials, however, have emphasized that less than one per cent of illegal entries into the U.S. come from Canada.

The CBSA removed 16,800 people who were in Canada illegally last year, more than double the number in 2021. The public safety minister says the aim is to further increase removals by another 25 per cent this year.

As part of its border security measures, Canada will also share more personal information about permanent residents who cross into the U.S. with American authorities and vice versa.

It’s a new arrangement that Immigration Minister Marc Miller calls “mission critical.”

“By granting this extension, both countries are better equipped to screen applicants and make informed migration decisions and also prevent fraud culture,” Miller said.

The minister would not stipulate what type of information would be shared with the U.S. but said that there were “reasonable safeguards” within the agreement to allay privacy concerns.

Statistics Canada figures show that as of 2023, there were more than eight million permanent residents in Canada.

New measures going forward despite prorogued Parliament

McGuinty said the border money and strategy remain intact despite Parliament being prorogued until March 24, and the possibility of an election being called following the selection of a new Liberal leader.

“I have been reassured repeatedly by departments and agencies that reallocation is taking place. We have the resources,” McGuinty said.

“It’s true that we’re holding a leadership convention, but this is a mature democracy,” he also said. “We can do both and deal with this.”

Immigration lawyer concerned about new measures

The new information-sharing policy raises concerns for Ottawa immigration lawyer Warren Creates, who worries that confidential information passed on to the Americans will put a segment of the population at risk of prejudicial treatment by authorities.

“Many permanent residents may have come to Canada as refugees or asylum seekers,” Creates said, in an interview with CTV News. “There is lots of information attached to their refugee claims, that is protected information.”

“That information includes their security checks, what type of persecution they were facing, who they were running from and family contacts,” he also said.

Creates points out that some of his clients are not able to get that data on themselves without filing an access to information request. And often, when the file arrives, much of it is redacted.

“I can understand why the Americans would want it,” he said. “Information is power, but that information is super confidential.”