The Government of Saskatchewan announced the introduction of a Saskatchewan Border Security Plan (SBSP) to enhance border security between the province and the United States. Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, says while border security is the jurisdiction of the federal government, the SBSP is designed to align with efforts already being applied.
“Our border security plan is meant to complement the work already being done on border security by the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP, and our plan will be redeploying 16 conservation officers and highway traffic patrol, including canine units as well as equipment like drones ATVs snowmobiles, to monitor the areas that butt up against the federal jurisdiction and make sure that there's no overlap, but that there's also no gaps.”
McLeod explains they have already seen success in the collaborations with other agencies, Canadian and American. He says this collaboration is critical to the SBSP as information and intelligence is frequently shared across agencies.
“We've seen some great successes particularly when it comes to seizure of illegal tobacco, illicit drugs, and preventing human trafficking.”
“Any illegal activity crossing the borders whether it's interprovincial or international borders is obviously a threat to the safety of our public in our communities, and that's our number one priority.”
He anticipates communities in the vicinity of border crossings will see a greater level of security. Regarding the cost of implementing the plan, McLeod says it will be defendant on observed enforcement needs.
“The plan indicates the immediate redeployment of 16 officers and equipment. It is anticipated at relatively minimal cost, but we do have the surge capacity to increase that number up to 95 officers if necessary.” He continues “the plan only does that if our intelligence and evidence suggest that we need to further increase beyond the initial redeployment.”
Officers are deployed strategically based on intelligence and with an evidence-based approach, and success has been observed already with the deployment. However, if activity levels are increased and it’s observed that more resources are needed, additional deployments would be made.