‘Fentanyl czar’ will serve as liaison between U.S. and Canada, minister says

Federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty says Canada’s new “fentanyl czar” will serve as a liaison between Canada and the U.S. on cross-border efforts to curb fentanyl traffic

McGuinty was joined by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew in Emerson, Man., this morning attending a border security exercise.

“We want to see a crackdown in our communities when we have a secure border that benefits people in our province and in our country,” explained Kinew.

“The only time that we should be cheering for different teams should be at the 4 Nations Cup, watching hockey, the rest of the time friends off the ice.”

Ottawa announced the new position on Monday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.

Those tariffs were to have taken effect today but Trump called them off until March after speaking with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Canada’s border response on Monday.

McGuinty says the fentanyl czar is among some additions to the $1.3 billion border plan Canada announced weeks ago in an attempt to head off Trump’s tariff threat.

“There is a lot at stake here this is not naïve it is real.  This is the largest economic relationship in the world.  We have a choice to make between two counties, we can win-win or lose-lose, we think it better to win-win,” said McGuinty.

Less than one per cent of fentanyl entering the United States comes from Canada, and McGuinty says illegal border crossings from Canada to the U.S. are down 89 per cent since last summer.

-With files from the Canadian Press