Trudeau promised Trump tougher border controls, says Canadian official

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised President-elect Donald Trump that Canada would toughen controls over the long undefended joint border, a senior Canadian official said on Sunday.

Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with Trump, who has promised to slap tariffs on Canadian imports unless Ottawa prevents migrants and drugs from crossing the frontier.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who sat at the head table with Trudeau and Trump, said the two men discussed additional security measures Canada would be introducing.

“We’re going to look to procure, for example, additional drones, additional police helicopters, we’re going to redeploy personnel ... we believe that the border is secure,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

“It’s important, I think, to show Canadians and the Americans that we’re stepping up in a visible and muscular way, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he added, promising more details in the days and weeks to come.

Canada, he said, would continue to make the case that tariffs would damage both nations, given how interconnected the two economies are.

“I’m confident that the Americans will understand that it’s not in their interest ... to proceed in this way,” he said, describing the dinner meeting as very warm and cordial.