The details for Canada’s new fentanyl czar role are expected to be finalized by the end of the week, with Canadians likely to hear “very shortly” after what this new role will entail, according to Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, McGuinty was asked about the timeline of the fentanyl czar, who will serve as the primary liaison between the Canadian and U.S. governments in addressing the two countries’ fentanyl crisis.
“The fentanyl czar’s role will help us integrate what is a whole-of-society challenge. Fentanyl is a foreign affairs issue, it is a law enforcement issue, it’s an intelligence issue, a public health issue, it’s a tracing issue, in terms of the ingredients that end up being used in fentanyl. So this is a complicated issue,” he said.
“And we are also not going to shy away from raising with our American counterparts, as we have, that there are also drug challenges coming northward.”
For example, last month the Toronto police made the largest cocaine seizure in their history, confiscating more than 835 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of approximately $83 million.
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The operation uncovered links to Mexican drug cartels and a trafficking route from Mexico, through the United States and into Canada.
McGuinty emphasized that other drugs, such as methamphetamine, are also crossing into Canada from the U.S., making this issue a “two-way street.”
“But the fentanyl crisis is particularly egregious because it is so lethal. It is lethal in Canada and it is lethal in the United States,” he said.
“And I made sure to remind White House officials, that in some cases, on per capita population, we are losing more Canadians than Americans are losing Americans. That is an important stat for Americans to understand.”
The role of Canada’s fentanyl czar has yet to be fully explained, including who will fill the position. Its creation stems from measures promised by Canada after the U.S. threatened steep tariffs.
After U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily delayed the U.S.’s proposed tariffs on Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that Canada will introduce new measures to address Trump’s concerns over fentanyl trafficking across the border, including the appointment of a fentanyl czar.
Trump has previously pointed to the flow of illegal fentanyl into the U.S. as a primary reason for threatening to impose broad tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering,” Trudeau said in a social media post on Monday.
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