The Canadian government says it’s “strongly opposed” to the idea of sending American troops to the border to intercept illegal migrants as part of that country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Canadian government says it’s “strongly opposed” to the idea of sending American troops to the border to intercept illegal migrants as part of that country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is an entirely unnecessary step, which we would view as damaging to our relationship,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland today following the first public reports that White House officials are thinking about stationing soldiers near the Canadian border.
“Canada is strongly opposed to this U.S. proposal and we’ve made that opposition very, very clear to our American counterparts.
“At the end of the day, every country takes it own decisions but ours is an important and valued partnership and we are making clear Canada’s position.”
WATCH: Freeland says Canada ‘strongly opposed’ to U.S. troops at border
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the federal government is “strongly opposed” to the idea of sending American troops to the border to intercept illegal migrants in response to COVID-19 pandemic. She says the move would be unnecessary and could damage the Canada-U.S. relationship. 1:20
A source with knowledge of those discussions told CBC News the White House is looking at placing 1,000 troops about 25 kilometres from the 8,891 kilometre-long border and using remote sensors to look out for irregular border-crossers.
The source stressed that the U.S. hasn’t made a final decision.
Another source — who spoke on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss the measures — said that if the plan moves ahead, the deployed U.S. Department of Defence personnel wouldn’t have any law enforcement powers. They’d be tasked w