G7 security ministers in Ottawa to talk organized crime, migrant smuggling, drugs

German federal police officers check trucks at the Austrian-German border crossing point in Kiefersfelden, Germany, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree plans to meet his Group of Seven counterparts and others in Ottawa today to discuss problems including transnational organized crime.

The two-day G7 meeting of interior and security ministers is also expected to focus on threats from synthetic drugs, migrant smuggling and transnational repression.

Participants are also slated to discuss tactics to deal with the online challenges of terrorist and violent extremist content, cybercrime and the internet-related dimensions of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Magnus Brunner, European commissioner for internal affairs and migration, says the discussions come at a time when security challenges are evolving rapidly and no country can face them alone.

Brunner says Europe is deepening its co-operation with trusted partners, including the G7, as it undertakes the most ambitious reform of the European Union’s migration and asylum policy in its history.

Anandasangaree plans to hold a news conference Sunday after the meetings.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press