'What's the downside of strengthening the Border?'
That's the question Premier Wab Kinew posed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc during an emergency meeting First Ministers meeting this week to discuss the potential impacts of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's threat of steep new tariffs.
Trump has committed to imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods brought into the United States unless both countries enhance border security in an effort to curb the flow of drugs and illegal migrants into the U.S.
"These are things Manitobans support. These are things that Canadians support," said Kinew. "I think for years, people have been shaking their heads at what's going on with drugs in our communities. If all of a sudden, we can say there's more RCMP resources, not just to patrol the border, but also there's more resources in our own communities to crack down on drug trafficking, isn't that something that we're all going to support anyways? Plus, it could help improve the relationship with the U.S. with President Trump coming into a second term."
The Premier noted, amped up border security is something his government is monitoring.
"Let's work together to get these resources to help with border security, to help with drug enforcement. That's going to be a message that I think Donald Trump appreciates and the Trump team in D.C. But isn't that something that Manitobans want? Aren't your listeners going to be supportive of stronger border measures and of more resources to hold the people accountable who are bringing toxic drugs into our communities? I think they would."
Kinew added, this argument also encompasses the concern around illegal border crossings.
He used this week's meeting to rally for additional supports to the existing RCMP's Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET).
"[...] new resources, new officers being trained, new drones, new boots on the ground to help operate those drones and to do the intelligence analysis so if there's coordinated criminal activity there, that they're able to crack down on that," said Kinew. "I know there's a lot of good, hard-working Manitobans who are concerned about illegal crossings, especially with Trump raising this. But I think there's a humanitarian concern as well too. People I think were horrified when we had that family freeze to death on the open Prairie during a blizzard. So, I think there's a lot of reasons why people are thinking about this."
Additionally, the Premier encouraged the Prime Minister and Minister LeBlanc to continue to grow the current RCMP resources in place throughout our communities and to support the public safety work those officers are doing.
All this to protect Manitoba's economy.
"The economy is number one," said the Premier. "We're an exporting province, whether that's agriculture, manufacturing, energy that we send south of the border. So, we've got to keep jobs protected here in our province. Donald Trump stands up for America. My job is to stand up for Manitoba's trading relationship with the U.S."
With agriculture one of the Manitoba's key industries, Premier Kinew says it needs to be a top priority in these ongoing discussions with the United States, adding the province's unique voice needs to be represented.
"I think the American audience is going to like that because we do so much trade across the border with the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and all the Midwest, really. So, the ag industry is key to us and needs to be top priority in these conversations."
NATO and China
The Premier says he also used the meeting to encourage the federal government to hit the 2 per cent of GDP defence spending target, another area the incoming Trump administration is pushing Canada and other NATO allies to hit.
"We've got to hit this 2 per cent target," said Kinew. "A Trump administration, that's just kind of table stakes I think, to get into the game, is for us to uphold our commitments when it comes to the military and showing that we're that really important ally when it comes to defense spending."
Premier Kinew also weighed-in on China, and what he says is the bigger picture and Canada's longer-term relationship with the U.S.
"We have to have a clear strategy when it comes to China. There's a lot of exports that head to Asia. At the same time, there's friction in that relationship. So, we need to just have a clear, common-sense strategy when it comes to that. And at the end of the day, my number one job is to stand up for your job, to stand up for the Manitoba economy and to keep people's jobs protected. A lot of that is in agriculture, manufacturing, export industries, transportation, the energy industry, whether that's Manitoba Hydro or the oil and gas sector. So, we've got to be really strong on these things."
Overall, the Premier feels his fellow provincial and territorial counterparts are aligned on these issues.
"Definitely, the premiers are ready, myself included, to play that leadership role in a united Team Canada."