Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said he is “incredibly impressed” with Canada’s plan to focus on border security and the illegal trade of fentanyl in response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat of 25-per-cent tariffs on products going from Canada to the United States.
“We are not seeing any instances of migrants trying to cross into the Yukon, we are not seeing any anomalies of illegal cross border fentanyl seizures, but we are going to be vigilant as we see the potential for migration patterns to change with the tightening of the southern U.S. border,” Pillai said.
Pillai spoke with the News by phone on Dec. 11, after coming out of a second virtual first ministers' meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his deputy, the federal public safety minister and premiers across the country.
Pillai said he commented to premiers, officials and the prime minister on the Yukoners who have died and the impact around the nation because of the illicit fentanyl trade.
Canada’s plan involves operational responses with the Canada Border Services Agency that will target fentanyl ingredients that have been coming into the country and corresponding legislative changes per Pillai.
Pillai continued to highlight his relationship with the state of Alaska and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who Pillai said has “very close” ties with Trump.
“We know that even before this occurred, the diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C., identified the work that we were doing in the Yukon with Alaska as a high-water mark of what can be done between a province or territory and a state,” Pillai said.
“We're going to continue to have a respectful and productive relationship with Alaska.”
Pillai said the Canada Border Services Agency is putting together a “task team” to ensure they have a proper response to what could be increased pressure over the Alaska-Yukon border.
Pillai indicated he asked the federal government to pitch in for increased RCMP officers in the Yukon for more “boots on the ground.”
He said he reiterated the importance of speeding up the process for the federal government to fulfill its NATO commitment to dedicate two per cent of Canada’s GDP to military spending.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
