'At no moment will there be inadequate police coverage': Public Safety minister on added RCMP border patrols

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says small communities patrolled by local RCMP detachments won’t be negatively affected by a plan to heighten security at the U.S.-Canada border.

Beefing up border patrols will be part of the federal government’s response to a 25 per cent tariffs threat leveled by the incoming U.S. president.

Donald Trump says tariffs could begin as soon as he’s sworn in as Jan. 20, unless Canada (and Mexico) satisfy his concerns about drugs and migrants at the border.

More information about the Canadian government’s border security response is expected next week, but LeBlanc is acknowledging concerns that local RCMP services may be affected.

“We obviously understand the importance of small communities in relying on first class services from RCMP members,” says LeBlanc. “It’s true in my constituency, it’s true across the country.”

“It’s not the first time that the RCMP make contingency plans for a potential surge. All across the country at various moments the RCMP are reassigning personnel to deal with an emerging crisis. So that’s not new. They have all those plans in place. But I completely understand the concerns of local municipal leaders about the reliability of policing.”

LeBlanc says it’s a point addressed directly with RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme.

“The commissioner assures me that at no moment will there be inadequate police coverage,” says LeBlanc. “But I think we have as a country a responsibility to ensure the continued security of our border and to show our American partners that we take the shared responsibility of border security seriously.”

LeBlanc says some premiers have suggested the deployment of provincial conversation officers to serve as “visible” patrols around suspected illegal border crossing locations.

New Brunswick Green Party Leader David Coon says the RCMP’s presence is already “thin on the ground,” and can’t withstand a redeployment of any resources.

“Municipality after municipality after municipality have raised this, and we need to strengthen the capacity of the RMCP to carry out its mandate in our communities and in our rural areas,” says Coon. “When it comes to the border, the federal government has a responsibility to put in place new resources, with new people to address this new need.”

On Thursday, Albera Premier Danielle Smith announced a plan to form a special team of sheriffs to patrol that province’s border with Montanna.

Also on Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford mused about purchasing a helicopter to be based in Windsor (near North America’s busiest international border crossing).

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says the federal government hasn’t requested any specific resources or ideas from the province for shoring up security along its Maine border.

“I think it’s a conversation to be had about the kind of strengthening that we want to do for the borders here in New Brunswick,” said Holt. “We’re looking forward to seeing the specific details about how that’s going to benefit our borders and our ports, so there’s more conversations to be had there.”