Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba TOP NEWS A3 TUESDAY JANUARY 28, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM The union said about 20 per cent of conservation officer jobs are vacant, and officers are already busy with their regular tasks, so it’s unclear how much additional work they can take on. “It sounds like (officers’) routines may change a little, to be a little more towards the border, but overall, from what we understand, they’re going to do as much of their regular role as possible,” union president Kyle Ross said. Kinew said vacancy rates for conservation officers have dropped from 20 per cent to 10 per cent under his government, while acknowledging he’d like to hire more. Progressive Conservative Leader Wayne Ewasko said the border has “never been weaker” under the pro- vincial NDP and federal Liberals. “Conservation officers have an im- portant job protecting public safety and our fish, wildlife and forest re- sources, but pulling them away from their core duties to patrol the border is not a permanent solution,” he said in an emailed statement. Immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke said his office has been fielding calls from Americans who disagree with Trump’s policies try- ing to come to Canada, and people in the U.S. without citizenship who are fearful of being deported. Last week, Clarke said, a Venezue- lan asylum seeker who had family in Manitoba called for help, saying he no longer felt safe in the U.S. He was turned back at the border. If Trump’s 2016 presidency can provide any hindsight, he said, Man- itoba will need additional help at the border. “I don’t see it getting any better,” he said. In 2022, a family from India froze to death while trying to cross the Manitoba-U.S. border. Two men were found guilty of human smuggling in November. They are set to be sen- tenced in March. In 2016, two men from Ghana lost their fingers to frostbite while crossing the border. They became Canadian citizens in 2023. “Those cases just break my heart,” Clarke said. “When people are just trying to find safety, when they’re trying to be with their family members, when they are trying to find a better life. There is inherent risk in their jour- neys, but it is so sad when you hear about someone paying the ultimate price.” Monday’s announcement comes one week after Black Hawk helicopters began patrolling the Manitoba-U.S. border. The chopper flights, along with drones, are part of the federal government’s $1.3-billion border security upgrade plan in response to Trump’s threats. Kinew’s focus on the border — whether it be the conservation officers or recent announcement of a U.S. trade council and an office open- ing in Washington, D.C. — makes clear he isn’t waiting for Ottawa to lead on the issue, said Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor in political studies at the University of Manitoba. “After Trump’s first inauguration, the federal government really did have one voice, and the premiers sort of were in lockstep with the federal government,” he said. “This time around, there is a political vacuum in Ottawa … and so the premiers are all filling in with playing their own roles, representing their own interests in many ways, with dealing with the Trump threat of tariffs.” — with files from The Canadian Press malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca BORDER ● FROM A1 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Conservation officer Nick Woroniuk loads a snowmobile onto a truck at the Canada-U.S. border near Emerson on Monday. Conservation officers will patrol between ports of entry. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Premier Wab Kinew (right), with conservation officers Nick Woroniuk (left) and Jesse Jones, said those on patrol will act as an additional set of eyes and ears. Border bucks money well-spent: U.S. WASHINGTON — As Canada makes its case for enhanced border security to U.S. President Donald Trump’s top security picks, a prominent Repub- lican senator says Canada’s recent investment announcement was tardy but welcome. James Risch, chair of the U.S. Sen- ate foreign relations committee, called the $1.3 billion border plan — an- nounced in response to Trump’s tariff threat — a “delayed investment.” “Border security should be a prior- ity for both our countries and I hope to see sustained investments from our friends to the North,” Risch said in an email to The Canadian Press. Ottawa promised the border secur- ity plan in December after Trump said he would hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs in response to what he called both coun- tries’ failure to curb the illegal flow of people and drugs across the border. Trump didn’t implement the duties on his first day back in office, as he’d vowed to do, but he has repeatedly sug- gested the tariffs could come on Feb. 1. It’s not clear if the date holds any significance. Trump’s executive action says a report on U.S. trade and border security with Canada isn’t due until April. Public Safety Minister David Mc- Guinty told reporters Monday on Par- liament Hill that Canada is pushing on multiple fronts to address U.S. con- cerns about the border. “It’s a very strong border. It’s one that’s evolved over 150 years of re- lationship. It remains the longest undefended border in the world and we intend to try to keep it that way,” McGuinty said following a meeting of the cabinet committee on Canada-U. S. relations. “I think our American colleagues share the same view.” McGuinty said Canada’s response “involves political outreach, official outreach and operational outreach.” Multiple provinces are providing poli- cing services to supplement resour- ces at the border. Manitoba joined Ontario, Saskatch- ewan and Alberta in announcing plans Monday to help strengthen bor- der security. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said conservation officers will be tasked with watching out for sus- picious activity and people in need of medical help due to cold weather at the border. Six people were caught trying to cross illegally into Canada from the United States near the Manitoba bor- der a few days before Trump’s return to office earlier this month. It offered a stark reminder of Trump’s first administration, when thousands of people fearful of the Republican’s de- portation threats started to head north. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is also concerned about border security and wants to stop the illegal movement of guns and people north from the U.S. Joly will be meeting with U.S. Sec- retary of State Marco Rubio in Wash- ington, D.C. on Wednesday and has said she will be in contact soon with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan. McGuinty will be meeting with Ho- man and with Kristi Noem, the United States’ new head of homeland security. The number of migrants crossing between Canada and the United States is much smaller than at the U.S.-Mex- ico border. Some officials and experts have suggested the tariff threat is part of Trump’s strategy to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory 2026 re- view of a trilateral trade pact. Trump has denied any link between tariffs and negotiations on the Can- ada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement but re- ports in the U.S. suggest the president is looking to hasten the review of the agreement. Canadian cabinet ministers have been cycling through Washington in recent weeks for meetings with Re- publican lawmakers to talk about the boosted border plan and make the case that tariffs would harm both the Canadian and American economies. Joly said she believes Canada can still prevent the duties — although it’s not clear that Republicans themselves are pushing the president away from his tariff threat. Risch, a senator for Idaho, echoed Trump’s recent claim that NATO members should have to spend at least the equivalent of five per cent of na- tional gross domestic product on de- fence — up from the current two per cent guideline and more than what the U.S. itself spends. Canada is already facing criticism for a pledge to hit the current goal by 2032. “We are neighbours, treaty allies, and our countries will always share a close bond and mutual respect,” Risch said. “But the United States has been clear that Canada is lagging behind in economic and defence matters key to our shared interests. I know that President Trump will want to see that change.” — The Canadian Press Senator’s praise comes with questions on Canada’s defence spending KELLY GERALDINE MALONE Freeland wants to fight U.S. fire with fire O TTAWA — Liberal leadership can- didate Chrystia Freeland argues Canada can turn the tables on U.S. President Donald Trump and avoid massive U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods by scaring key American businesses. The former finance minister said her plan calls for the immediate release of a long list of $200 billion in retaliatory tariffs to deter Trump from making good on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports as soon as February. “Trump is using uncertainty to unset- tle Canadians. We must do the same,” Freeland said in a media statement on Monday. “U.S. exporters need (to) worry whether their businesses will be the ones we hit.” Freeland said Ottawa should immedi- ately consult with industry and put together a detailed retaliation plan that targets prominent American imports. The idea is to put enough pressure on politically connected lobby groups from key states — Florida orange growers, Wisconsin dairy farmers and Michigan manufacturers — to convince them to call on Trump to drop the tariff threat. “Our consultation list must be larger than our planned retaliation,” Freeland said in her statement. “Our counter- punch must be dollar-for-dollar — and it must be precisely and painfully tar- geted.” Freeland, who is casting herself as the leadership candidate best able to deal with Trump, is calling for a “buy Canadian” response to tariffs that would threaten to cut the U.S. off from Canadian government procurement, with the exception of defence. Trade lawyer Mark Warner of the firm MAAW, who has past affiliations with both the Conservatives and the Liberals, said Freeland’s plan works better as a political strategy than as a negotiating tactic for dealing with the much larger U.S. economy. “I can understand why it suits for electoral purposes,” he said. “She’s go- ing to stand up to the bully and there’ll probably be tons of people who will go along with voting for that. “But as a matter of substance, it’s just extraordinarily silly and will lead to a very sharp response from Trump if we were to actually do anything like that.” Freeland’s trade negotiation tactic also would represent a 180-degree turn from the Liberal government’s current approach. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said she plans to keep tariff negoti- ations behind closed doors. “We believe that diplomacy can work, and that’s why we’re having private conversations and we won’t negotiate in front of the public. We believe that our arguments are strong,” she told repor- ters Monday on Parliament Hill. “We have leverage. We have, also, different levers. We are the biggest customer to the U.S.” Freeland’s leadership rival Mark Carney told Radio-Canada over the weekend that Canada should retain the option of cutting off Quebec’s hydro ex- ports to the U.S. — although that’s not the first card he would play. The jostling over which Liberal leadership candidate would be the best person to lead on the trade front came hours ahead of Monday’s deadline for candidates to sign up party members who can vote in the race. Liberal MPs Karina Gould and Jaime Battiste and former MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla say they are in the race to replace Justin Trudeau. The party says it won’t announce the offi- cial list of candidates until Elections Canada confirms their registrations. Dhalla posted on social media on Monday that she would deport “every illegal immigrant living in Canada” if she becomes prime minister. Liberal MP Chandra Arya said on Sunday the party had denied him per- mission to run for the leadership, al- though the party did not provide a specific reason for his disqualification. Leadership aspirants face a Thurs- day deadline to pay the party a non-re- fundable $50,000 entry fee to remain in the race — part of an instalment plan to deal with a steep total entry fee of $350,000, due by Feb. 17. — The Canadian Press KYLE DUGGAN Urges aggressive approach on Trump tariff threat ;