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CBC
06-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Canada's 'fentanyl czar' will be appointed before Trump's tariff pause ends: public safety minister
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty says Canada's new "fentanyl czar" will be appointed before U.S. President Donald Trump's next deadline for imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods. "We intend to be way more proactive than that," McGuinty told reporters on Thursday. "We're moving forward now." The fentanyl czar position was part of a last-minute deal between Canadian and American officials to avert a major trade war. Trump issued an executive order on Saturday to impose 25 per cent tariffs on almost all Canadian goods, prompting Canada to declare retaliatory tariffs hours later. On Monday, both sides agreed to stand down — for now. Trump issued another executive order delaying the tariffs until March 4. Canada promised to appoint a fentanyl czar, list Mexican cartels as terrorists and kick in $200 million to launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force tasked with combatting organized crime and money laundering. WATCH | Canadian officials share their vision for the 'fentanyl czar': What will Canada's 'fentanyl czar' do? 2 days ago Duration 2:44 McGuinty said the fentanyl czar would "absolutely" be on the job by March 4. The minister also said the scope of the new job would be finalized "by the end of this week." McGuinty said the czar would "help us integrate what is a whole-of-society challenge. Fentanyl is a foreign affairs issue. It's a law enforcement issue. It's an intelligence issue. It's a public health issue." According to a senior government source, the fentanyl czar job was put on the table by the Canadians. The source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the government is looking for a serving or former police officer for the role — and to fill it as soon as possible. The aim, the source said, is to have better information-sharing with the U.S. Top Mountie: Czar can be a 'conduit' "There's so many government departments involved in the fight against fentanyl," Duheme said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, adding that he also sees the czar building relationships with officials in the United States and Mexico. Duheme said the new position won't interfere with the RCMP's work "because we have police independence and that's going to maintain." Supt. Marc Cochlin, CEO of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, whose members are drawn from various law enforcement agencies, equated the position to football where "everybody needs a good quarterback and a good captain to win." "I think a spokesperson for the strategy would be great," Cochlin said. He said law enforcement is already hard at work on the issue. Solving Canada's fentanyl crisis takes more than just enforcement, Cochlin said. It also requires looking at mental health and addictions "because we will not be able to arrest [ourselves] out of this problem."
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Claims Victory Over Canada, Mexico After Getting … Basically Nothing
Donald Trump has temporarily delayed the implementation of tariffs against Mexico and Canada after speaking to the leaders of both nations on Monday. The president made a show of detailing the supposed concessions made by the neighboring nations in order to gain his mercy — but most of the agreements were already in place before this weekend's trade dispute. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Mexico had 'agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States,' and that Canada will 'implement their $1.3 Billion Border plan,' as well as place 'nearly 10,000 personnel' on the border, 'appoint a Fentanyl Czar, […] list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the Border, [and] launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.' None of this is particularly new, and most of the agreements that supposedly inspired the tariff delay were already in place. Canada touted the placement of 8,500 border enforcement personnel in December 2024. The $1.3 billion border plan touted by Trump was also announced in December, more than a month before he assumed office. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Tuesday that nearly 10,000 personnel 'are and will be' working on the border, indicating that nothing is new here. Mexico managed to gain its own win from their dealings with Trump. President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 troops to the border if the U.S. agreed to crack down on the smuggling of guns and other weaponry into Mexico. The Mexican government doesn't have to do much to uphold its end of the bargain, however, as it already has over 15,000 troops along the border, as of 2019. In a statement posted Sunday, Sheinbaum took the White House to task for portraying Mexico as a lawless criminal state while ignoring their own role in fomenting cartel violence. The Mexican president noted that, according to ATF statistics, 74 percent of the firearms recovered from Mexican cartels in Mexico originated from the United States military industrial complex. Sheinbaum also noted that while Mexico had partnered with the U.S. to decrease the trafficking of fentanyl into the United States, the U.S. has failed to treat their own long standing domestic addiction epidemic. 'Mexico doesn't want a confrontation,' she said. 'If the United States wants to fight criminal groups and wants us to do it together, we must work in an integrated manner but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty.' 'Sovereignty is not negotiable. Coordination yes, subordination no,' Sheinbaum added. Critically, neither country made concessions to Trump on Monday regarding their trade balance — a condition Trump laid out as a requirement in order to prevent the 25 percent tariff from going into effect. 'They have to balance out their trade, No. 1,' the president said Sunday. Trump has long touted tariffs as a way to prevent other nations from ripping America off economically, but this didn't seem to be an issue on Monday. Republicans and the Trump administration have long touted Trump as an expert dealmaker, capable of giving his adversaries the runaround with little effort. In light of the brief trade dispute, conservative media hailed Trump as a conquering victor over America's North American neighbors. 'Canada is bending the knee, just like Mexico,' said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) struggled to defend Trump's deal with Canada and Mexico as a win for the president during an interview on CNN later in the day. 'Is there a tangible concession in your view?' host Kaitlan Collins asked. 'Yeah, absolutely,' Davidson replied, noting the supposed 'commitment from Trudeau that wasn't there to help with fentanyl.' Collins pointed out that that plan had actually been announced 'six weeks ago.' 'Well, at least he's reiterated it,' Davidson demured. The tactic by Trump is obvious: work nations and investors into a frenzy over a potential trade dispute that would actively harm Americans, only to swoop in at the last moment and cast himself as a master negotiator and savior of the populace. More from Rolling Stone Trump Drains California's Most Precious Resource for a Photo Op Trupa Trupa's 'Mourners' Is a Song for This Moment Late-Night Hosts Take Aim at Trump's Tariffs: 'So Many Stupidly Bad Things' Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
