Alberta to examine its border security situation before taking action: Smith

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the media during the fall meetings of Canada's premiers hosted by Ontario in Toronto, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. on Dec. 16, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

With Alberta’s public safety and justice ministers set to meet U.S. counterparts in Texas on Monday to discuss how to strengthen border security, the premier said this weekend the province needs to evaluate the situation at the border before implementing a plan.

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Premier Danielle Smith says she’s spoken with the governor of neighbouring U.S. state Montana and that they both believe the main issue at their border is human trafficking.

On her radio show Saturday, Smith said the province needs to do its own surveillance to find issues before it can address root causes.

“We think we have to do our part with the drones, with the dog sniffing or the drug sniffing dogs, and with the commericial vehicle inspections,” Smith said on the show in response to a caller’s question.

“We can monitor with drones and we’ll see what we come up with. We’ve got to get a baseline first so we can understand the nature of the problem before we start to address (any) embedded social issues.”

Border security became a significant political topic on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border in late November when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to put 25-per-cent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico if they don’t boost border security.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny