Trump’s tariff threats renew calls for dedicated port police in B.C.

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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to place 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian imports if the country doesn’t prevent fentanyl and illegal immigrants from crossing the border has led to a renewed call for a dedicated team of local port police.

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In a speech to the B.C. Federation of Labour on Tuesday morning, Premier David Eby said the province has been pushing for Ottawa to re-start the Ports Canada Police, which was disbanded in 1997. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority also ended its funding for the Waterfront Joint Forces Operation team of the RCMP in 2015.

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“We have called repeatedly, for example, for port police to ensure what comes into British Columbia is not contraband, is not illicit drugs or precursor chemicals,” said Eby.

“These are things that we can do to make life better here in British Columbia, as well as respond to concerns that have been raised south of the border.”

The call was echoed by B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad, who is urging Eby to immediately recall the legislature to push through provincial funding for a dedicated port police unit and then send Ottawa the bill.

Rustad said local police departments and RCMP detachments simply don’t have the capacity or resources to deal with the sheer volume and variety of goods that come into B.C. via shipping containers.

A 2019 report by the City of Delta found only one per cent of the shipping containers at the port in Delta were being checked. The Vancouver Police Department, meanwhile, only has three boats to monitor the Port of Vancouver.

“That means there’s the potential for our ports to be wide open, wide open for abuse, for criminal activity, being able to bring products in or even export products,” said Rustad.

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“A police force focused on our ports, this is needed regardless of Trump. This is something that we wanted to get done in British Columbia. Now that we’re in a situation where Trump is threatening a 25-per-cent tariff, we desperately need to get this done as quick as possible.”

In a post on his own social media site Truth Social, Trump said the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which he has also threatened with 25-per-cent tariffs, “will remain in effect until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all Illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!” He added that “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long-simmering problem.”

Postmedia previously reported on a meeting between policing agencies from Canada and the U.S. in June in Esquimalt. At that meeting, the representatives of various agencies, including the B.C. RCMP and Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor-General, agreed to cooperate on issues of smuggling and human trafficking occurring in both directions across the border.

Police agencies said at the time that there was an increasing trend of Mexican cartels using B.C. as a way to ferry illegal immigrants, precursor chemicals for hard drugs, and “ghost guns” into the U.S.

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Delta Mayor George Harvie said Canada “should be ashamed” for failing to prevent cartels from taking over B.C. ports.

Harvie hopes Trump’s tariff threat serves as a wakeup call to Ottawa, and that consistent funding is provided both for a strategy to combat international crime, including the re-establishment of port police, as well as for increased coverage of the border by the Canada Border Services Agency.

“To me, it’s no surprise, and this is a direct result of our federal government doing nothing to take action against the illegal drugs that are entering through the port and all the precursors and drugs that are actually made here going out to the U.S,” said Harvie.

Canada’s premiers are set to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday to discuss what B.C.’s premier called a “United Team Canada approach.” Trudeau said Tuesday he has already spoken to Trump about the threat.

A number of B.C. business groups say the tariffs, if enacted, could cripple certain segments of the province’s economy, including forestry, natural gas and critical minerals. Currently, 54 per cent of B.C.’s exports go to the U.S., totalling $30.4 billion annually.

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Kurt Niquidet, vice-president and chief economist for the B.C. Council of Forest Industries, said the U.S. already has a 14-per- cent tariff on the province’s softwood lumber imports. He said that tax on producers has contributed to a series of mill closures and job losses in recent years.

A report released last spring by Unifor, United Steelworkers, and the Public and Private Workers of Canada found B.C. direct forestry jobs declined from 79,000 in 2001 to 44,000 in 2023. While tariffs have been a part of that decline, the industry has also been afflicted by fires, floods and the pine beetle infestation.

“Typically, our softwood lumber, it’s about $5 billion worth of exports from B.C. That makes up about 40 per cent of Canada’s overall softwood lumber exports,” said Niquidet.

“This ends up being an additional cost to our major market and acts as effectively as an attack on the imports going into the US. So this ends up causing prices in the U.S. to go up, which harms the U.S. consumers of forest products, and then it also harms our producers, who have to bear the brunt of these duties.”

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B.C. Business Council CEO Laura Jones said that it is likely Trump’s tariff threat is simply an “opening salvo” for negotiations and believes there is a strong chance a deal is reached before he takes office in January.

She said Ottawa needs to both reassure the president-elect that Canada is a good neighbour and remind him of the importance of trade between the two countries.

“We know the prime minister has been talking to the president. That’s great. But the premiers need to be talking to their counterparts, such as governors and other political leaders they know,” said Jones.

“Business leaders have a role to play. There are a lot of Canadian-owned businesses that employ people in the U.S., and pointing out where the exports are is important, particularly to the border states. So the Team Canada approach is largely about reminding the Americans that trade is a two-way street and that they benefit from trade to Canada.”

Even if Trump’s threat is merely a play for negotiations, Bridgitte Anderson, the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said the consequences would be devastating if the U.S. president-elect follows through in implementing the tariffs.

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She said Canada needs to “get its house in order” and not only address the issues raised by Trump about drug trafficking and human smuggling but also the barriers that are already hampering the country’s economic growth such as “regulatory barriers, taxes and incentives for business.”

“If you look at what the impact of these tariffs could do, they would raise the price of goods, really on both sides of the border, but if we look at Canada, those extra costs could be passed on to consumers,” said Anderson.

“It could also mean that production could be curtailed and jobs could be cut. The impact of this can’t be downplayed, and it is incredibly important that the federal government acts now and doesn’t wait until January, when the new Trump administration is in place.”

alazenby@postmedia.com

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