Internal report urged Canada to counter rhetoric about a 'crisis' at border

A new Black Hawk helicopter from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to be used in border patrol is unveiled in St-Antoine-Abbe, Que. on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

OTTAWA — An internal government report warned a year ago that allowing “the trend of negative rhetoric” about the security of the Canada-U.S. border could lead to a thickening of the 49th parallel, adversely affecting trade and travel.

The report, written by a diplomat at Canada’s embassy in Washington, said that failing to refute U.S. claims about a “crisis at the northern border” would lead to the erosion of Canada’s image as a secure neighbour.

The release of the February 2024 analysis through the Access to Information Act comes as the Trump White House threatens Canada with sweeping tariffs, citing concerns about the southbound flow of migrants and illicit drugs like fentanyl.

Those threats prompted Canada to announce a $1.3-billion plan in December to improve security and monitoring of the border and deploy new drones and helicopters. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expanded that by $200 million earlier this month to target organized crime.

The report, prepared against the backdrop of the U.S. presidential race, flagged early rumblings in the U.S. about irregular migration and fentanyl from Canada and concluded that the facts were largely being misrepresented.

It noted that in the last year, members of Congress — primarily Republicans — publicly mentioned the northern border some 1,000 times, mostly in a negative light.

The report was circulated to various federal officials, including Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States.

Portions of the document were withheld from release under provisions of the access law exempting material related to international relations, advice from officials and accounts of government deliberations.

The report charts the arc of political pronouncements in the U.S., from Donald Trump’s promises during the 2016 presidential campaign to build a wall along the border with Mexico to calls from candidates in the 2024 campaign for walls at the southern and northern borders.

Right-wing U.S. lawmakers started talking about a northern border crisis after the November 2022 midterm elections, the report noted.

House Republicans formed the Northern Border Security Caucus and used their control of committees to hold a March 2023 hearing on “Death, Drugs, and Disorder on the Northern Border.”

“The rhetoric about a crisis at the northern border does not reflect the reality of the situation, which is characterized by good co-operation at all levels,” the report said.

“There is some truth behind what’s being said but it’s generally taken out of context and sensationalized.”

The report acknowledged that U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a substantial increase in apprehensions and encounters in 2022 along the section of the northern border that includes parts of Vermont, New York and New Hampshire, compared with the same period in 2021.

But it pointed out that these crossings represented a small percentage of the overall number of irregular entries to the U.S., and that the increase did not account for the fact that cross-border travel was largely halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report stressed that the fentanyl intercepted from Canada represented well under one per cent of the total amount of the synthetic opioid caught coming into the U.S. In addition, fentanyl was entering Canada from the U.S.

“The truth is that the Canada-U.S. border functions extremely well,” the report said.

Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP collaborate hand-in-hand with their U.S. counterparts to ensure the border is safely managed, it added.

“When people or drugs are encountered at the border, it’s a sign that things are working as they should,” the report said.

Despite that rosy assessment, the report underscored the possible implications of U.S. concerns.

It noted that New Hampshire’s Democratic senators had called for something to be done about the increase in irregular crossings at the northern border.

While the construction of a northern border wall was “far from likely,” heightened rhetoric could dissuade U.S. lawmakers from enacting policies that promote cross-border movement, the report said.

“Worse, it could actually push them to thicken the border, like in the early 2000s after 9/11.”

Canada shouldn’t shy away from explaining that the Canada-U.S. border is one of the safest and best-managed in the world, the report said.

“Canadian officials should do this at every opportunity, at all levels, and with a variety of interlocutors — from legislators to commentators in border communities — to protect the trust businesses and travellers have in the border.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2025.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press