Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro has reportedly pushed to have Canada booted from the intelligence group also including Canada, U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and U.K.
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The importance of having Canada in an intelligence-sharing alliance with the United States and other countries was raised when ministers met this week with the U.S. Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.
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The meeting between Homan, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and other officials, was staged to show the Trump administration Canada’s efforts to boost border security.
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Included in the discussions held on Thursday were Kevin Brosseau, Canada’s newly appointed commissioner tasked with combating the illegal fentanyl trade, as well as RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme.
Two days before the meeting, the Financial Times reported, based on unnamed sources, that Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro had pushed to have Canada booted from the Five Eyes, an intelligence group with Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. as members
Navarro denied the report, calling it “just crazy stuff.”
Miller told National Post the issue of the Five Eyes was raised during their meeting with Homan.
“Clearly the understanding for countries that are known for gathering intelligence is that it would be counterproductive not to have Canada at the table when it comes to Five Eyes. It would make North America less secure. It would make America less secure, make Canada less secure, so I think that point was clearly made,” he said.
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The minister said he believes the officials “get it,” given how much information Canada shares with them regarding the Canada-U.S. border, which they can use to flag individuals for screening.
“They know we share information related to the border with the Americans in a much more extensive way than occurs at the Mexico-U.S. border, with Mexico.”
Canadians are now watching to see what Trump decides come next Tuesday, which is when the 30-day delay Trudeau secured in the face of the president’s threat of imposing 25 per cent universal tariffs on Canadian imports is set to expire.
Trump has repeated both in public and on Truth Social that he intends to move ahead with tariffs on Canada and Mexico beginning March 4.
However, a White House official clarified this week that date was subject to further talks.
Miller said his sense from his time in Washington was officials would take the weekend to assess the information they had received and decide whether to move ahead with the tariffs as scheduled.
“What wasn’t clear was sort of any set of parameters that would clearly prevent that.”
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Trump has said he wants to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs to force both countries to clamp down on the amount of fentanyl and migrants entering the U.S.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said less than one per cent of each entering the U.S. comes from Canada and has vowed to retaliate should Trump move ahead with his trade levies.
He initially announced a package of 25 per cent tariffs on $155-billion worth of American products, but shelved those plans once the U.S. decided to delay.
Trudeau and other federal party leaders say Trump is targeting Canada’s sovereignty and believe him to be serious when he says he wants Canada to become a state.
Miller and McGuinty were the latest ministers to try and show Trump officials as well as other U.S. lawmakers the efforts Ottawa is making to tighten border security, such as through additional surveillance equipment, and discuss ways both countries can tackle the spread of fentanyl, which has been driving the overdose crisis across North America.
They are also undertaking, as Miller puts it, some “myth busting” about facts surrounding the flow of drugs and migrants across the Canada-U.S border, adding part of their work is a “re-education” for American officials.
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“Clearly we made the case that there are some of those numbers that … essentially, came from Mexico (and) are being attributed to Canada.”
They also continue to highlight the difference between the Canada-U.S. border, the largest undefended border in the world, and America’s southern border with Mexico, he said.
“The U.S. sends asylum seekers to Canada more than we do them.”
While Canada has entered a new phase of a more hostile relationship with its closest ally, Miller characterized how they have built a relationship with Homan, who he said has been invited to see the Canadian side of the border for himself.
“He’s always told me he’s a big fan of Montreal,” Miller said.
“And he’s also a hockey fan.”
National Post
staylor@postmedia.com
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