Canada’s response to Trump deportation plan a key focus of revived cabinet committee

By David Baxter, The Canadian Press on November 8, 2024.

Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S relations following the election of President-elect Donald Trump on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA, W.Va. – U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has the Canadian government looking at its own border.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the issue is one of two “points of focus” for a recently revived cabinet committee to handle Canada-U.S. relations.

Freeland says she has also been speaking to premiers about the issue this week.

She adds that the committee has a plan, but did not share details.

Canada saw a major increase in the number of irregular border crossings between 2016 and 2023, which the RCMP attributes in part to the first Trump presidency.

The national police service says they have been working through multiple scenarios in case there is a change in irregular migration – which is trending down this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024