All quiet on the southern Manitoba front

It's been 11 months since Manitoba started using conservation officers as extra eyes on the U.S. border in response to claims that drugs were pouring in from Canada.

WINNIPEG – It’s been 11 months since Manitoba started using conservation officers as extra sets of eyes on the United States border in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that migrants and drug-smugglers were pouring in from Canada.

And it turns out they haven’t seen much at all.

“To my knowledge, there was actually no activity that they observed,” Ian Bushie, Manitoba’s natural resources minister, said in an interview.

Kyle Ross, head of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, which represents conservation officers, said he hadn’t heard of any incidents either.

And in response to a freedom of information request by The Canadian Press, the natural resources department said it found no records showing that conservation officers helped seize drugs, stop migrants or make arrests. RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency directed questions to the Manitoba government.

The announcement last winter that 11 conservation officers would be shifted closer to border areas was one of several moves by Ottawa and the provinces in response to Trump’s threats to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods.

At the time, Trump accused Canada and Mexico of not doing enough to prevent illegal border crossings and the smuggling of illicit drugs such as fentanyl. Trump’s positions on, and rationales for, specific tariffs later shifted.

In Manitoba, the government had conservation officers who already work in the southern part of the province spend time closer to the border and inform police and border officials about any suspicious activity. Premier Wab Kinew said the extra personnel could also boost humanitarian efforts if they came across migrants exposed to frigid weather.