Saskatchewan’s premier wants to talk about securing the U.S. border due to concerns about drugs. He should be talking about guns instead.
Article content
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe moved quickly last week to lend legitimacy to concerns raised by incoming American president Donald Trump about border security.
Article content
Article content
Moe was responding to Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of 25 per cent on all goods exported to the United States from Canada and Mexico until Trump’s concerns about the flow of drugs — specifically fentanyl — and migrants are addressed.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Moe, who won re-election a week before Trump emerged as the winner of the U.S. election, echoed the need for more border security measures, particularly in regard to drug trafficking.
Not only did Moe deliver to the erratic president-in-waiting exactly what he wanted by infusing his unsubstantiated concerns with some credibility, he ignored the obvious reality that countries are expected to ensure their own borders are secure.
Trump spent years blaming current U.S. President Joe Biden for a leaky border with Mexico in his long campaign to regain the presidency. Now, suddenly, the border problems are the fault of Mexico and Canada.
Yet the numbers suggest it’s irrational to lump Canada in with Mexico.
Widely reported statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show less than 20 kilograms of fentanyl were seized at the Canadian border for the year preceding this October, compared to 9,500 kilograms at the Mexican border.
But if Moe and Trump share a common vision of a more secure shared border, they should shift their focus from drugs to guns.
Trump, of course, cares nothing about a leaky border allowing illegal and prohibited guns to flow into Canada, but Moe sure should.
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
Of the 14 homicides in Saskatoon so far this year, a handful have involved firearms, including a tragic case where two boys aged 12 and 13 are charged with manslaughter in the February shooting death of a 12-year-old boy.
All of these incidents cannot be linked directly to guns smuggled from the U.S., but it’s difficult to ignore the threat posed by a much larger country with far more permissive gun laws and an influential firearms industry next to one with sensible gun control measures.
Last year, the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted more than 1,100 firearms and 24,400 prohibited weapons.
In October, the agency seized two undeclared loaded pistols, a prohibited rifle and ammunition at the North Portal border crossing from North Dakota into Saskatchewan.
Last month, the Saskatchewan RCMP announced 31 firearms and ammunition were seized at a home in the town of Lafleche, located within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border. Two people face charges, including possession of a firearm without a licence.
And just last week, a firearms trafficking investigation by Saskatoon police resulted in 86 charges against 10 people and the seizure of eight guns. Police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards said in an emailed reply that it will take time to investigate the origin of the seized firearms.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Four years ago, though, mayors and police chiefs from the Greater Toronto Area issued a direct call to stop the flood of guns smuggled over the border from the U.S.
It seems doubtful we’ll hear a similar chorus from Moe, but perhaps the new mayors of Regina and Saskatoon, along with their police chiefs, might start to make this an issue.
When it comes to firearms, Moe has shown far more interest in appeasing the rural gun lobby that’s opposed to greater gun control than the people who live in the larger cities who want safe streets.
Those priorities were reflected in October’s election, when Moe’s Saskatchewan Party barely hung onto a single seat in Regina and Saskatoon.
Moe has further suggested involving Canada’s military in cracking down on drugs, which could also increase the country’s military spending, acquiescing to another of Trump’s demands.
Yet if Moe truly believes that the responsibility of securing America’s border lies here, he’s starting up a new marshals service that is still searching for a clear mandate.
The marshals offer Moe an opportunity to show that he really believes what he’s saying about the border.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
Recommended from Editorial
Our websites are your destination for up-to-the-minute Saskatchewan news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and leaderpost.com. For Regina Leader-Post newsletters click here; for Saskatoon StarPhoenix newsletters click here
Article content
