Trump wants to see change in how Canada approaches economic, defence matters, Republican senator says

U.S. Senator James Risch speaks at a press conference at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Clark)

As Canada makes its case for enhanced border security to U.S. President Donald Trump’s top security picks, a prominent Republican senator says Canada’s recent investment announcement was tardy but welcome.

James Risch, chair of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee, called the $1.3 billion border plan — announced in response to Trump’s tariff threat — a “delayed investment.”

“Border security should be a priority 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 security 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 countries' 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 suggested the tariffs could come on Feb. 1.

It’s not clear if that 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 McGuinty told reporters Monday on Parliament Hill that Canada is pushing on multiple fronts to address U.S. concerns about the border.

“It’s a very strong border. It’s one that’s evolved over 150 years of relationship. 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 policing services to supplement resources at the border.

Manitoba joined Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta in announcing plans Monday to help strengthen border security. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said conservation officers will be tasked with watching out for suspicious 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 border 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 deportation 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. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and has said she will be in contact soon with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan.

McGuinty also will be meeting with Homan 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.-Mexico border. Increases in recent years caught the attention of Republicans as immigration and border security emerged as a major political liability for Democrats ahead of the election.

The Biden administration made sweeping changes last year and the number of people crossing at both borders dropped significantly. But Republicans have continued to point north.

“We must secure all of America’s borders, including the Northern border,” Rep. Mike Kelly, co-chair of the northern border security caucus, posted on social media last week.

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 review of a trilateral trade pact.

Trump has denied any link between tariffs and negotiations on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement but reports 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 Republican 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 national gross domestic product on defence — 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.”

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27.