Alberta's border crackdown draws support and criticism from experts, rural leaders

As one southern Alberta community welcomes the crackdown on border security unveiled Thursday by Premier Danielle Smith, some experts question the need for the investment.

Randy Bullock is the reeve of Cardston County, which sits on the 298-kilometre border Alberta shares with Montana. He said a two-kilometre-deep border zone that will be policed by the province's new Interdiction Patrol Team (IPT) is an important announcement.

"We need to be proactive and have safe measures in place to protect from that illegal activity," said Bullock, who added that the mayors of the communities of Cardston and Magrath are in agreement.

But even as Bullock supports the effort, he admits that incidents of trafficking illicit drugs, weapons or people across the border isn't something he's familiar with in his community.

"It's a rare occurrence," Bullock said. "We have 90 kilometres of border in Cardston County, alongside the state of Montana, and I'm just not aware of many infractions or people trying to do deviant activity along the border, to be honest."

WATCH | Alberta unveils U.S. border security plan with sheriffs, dogs and drones: 

On Thursday, Alberta introduced plans to invest $29 million to create the IPT under the command of the Alberta Sheriffs.

Featuring 51 officers, as well as patrol dogs, surveillance drones and narcotics analyzers, the team is designed to intercept illegal attempts to cross the border, and attempts to bring drugs or firearms across the international boundary with the U.S. The unit will be able to make arrests without a warrant inside a red zone at least two kilometres from the border.

The plan follows threats from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who has said he would impose 25 per cent tariffs if Canada and Mexico do not handle the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs. Trump has specifically singled out the smuggling of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Approximately 20 kilograms of fentanyl were seized at the Canada-U.S. border from October 2023 to September 2024, compared to more than 9,500 kilograms at the Mexico-U.S. border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. 

A small share of that was seized at the Havre border patrol sector, which covers most of the border between Canada and Montana. The sector seized about three pounds (1.4 kilograms) of fentanyl in fiscal year 2024, according to CBP data. 

The number of "encounters" — referring to those people apprehended for sneaking over the border between the ports of entry, according to a CBP spokesperson — vary per month across the Havre sector, with 100 registered in fiscal year 2024.

In a statement to CBC News on Friday, an RCMP spokesperson said the force targets all aspects of the illegal drug trade, with synthetic drugs like fentanyl being a main priority, but noted there's a lack of data to back up concerns about fentanyl travelling over the border. 

"There is limited to no evidence or data from law enforcement agencies in the U.S. or Canada to support the claim that Canadian-produced fentanyl is an increasing threat to the U.S. Generally, reports do not indicate that Canada is trafficking significant amounts of fentanyl into the U.S.," RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region spokesperson Christina Zoernig wrote in an email.