Ottawa/CMEDIA: David McGuinty, Minister of Public Safety, has reportedly announced the launch of a series of Government of Canada-led exercises with provincial and territorial governments designed to further strengthen our ability to take action and respond to events at the border.
“Strengthening border security requires all of us to take a Team Canada approach…their professionalism and dedication, Canada’s law enforcement agencies are prepared to respond to any scenario at our border,” David McGuinty has said.
The first exercise was held last week with the government of Ontario.
Continuing to take concrete action to strengthen border security, and to keep communities on both sides of the border safe, as part of a Team Canada approach, senior officials from federal organizations responsible for border security, including the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Public Safety Canada (PS), and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), have met with their Ontario counterparts to discuss how to best prepare for and respond to potential situations that might arise on either side of the Canada-U.S. border.
“Partnerships are essential to border integrity and the enforcement of Canadian laws. The type of training conducted today…RCMP and its partners will continue to use a multi-layered approach to securing the border and the coastline by using personnel, technology, and intelligence,” Mike Duheme, RCMP Commissioner has said.
With the goal to assess preparedness, test coordination, determine adequacy of resources and ensure effective inter-agency communication and federal-provincial-territorial coordination for whatever scenarios may come our way, these collaborative exercises with provinces and territories are strengthening our posture and refining and enhancing the systems in place to stay ahead of evolving challenges to ensure the border remains secure.
Built on Canada’s Border Plan, these exercises with a $1.3 billion investment support a robust, enforcement-focused posture at the border that will include the deployment of helicopters, drones, mobile surveillance towers, and officers with new canine teams.
“The Canada Border Services Agency benefits from collaboration…increased our monitoring and reporting activities…With our American partners, building on the recent decision to align hours of service with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at more than 30 locations…a planned land border preclearance project in the United States,” Ted Gallivan, Executive Vice-President, Canada Border Services Agency said.
Playing a crucial role protecting our communities the CBSA and the RCMP are working to prevent illegal goods and inadmissible people from entering Canada. Being in constant operational contact with their U.S. partners. keeping their contingency plans in place to procure additional technology, equipment and surveillance means to multiply the existing resources at the border.
