More RCMP and CBSA ‘human resources’ destined for border, Public Safety Minister LeBlanc says

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.

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.”