By Ismail Shakil
OTTAWA (Reuters) – One person died and 15 were arrested trying to enter Canada from the United States in three incidents in recent weeks, Canadian police said on Wednesday, highlighting efforts to secure the border as U.S. President Donald Trump demands a crackdown.
Speaking at a televised news conference, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland said the people were of different nationalities and not prepared for the frigid Canadian winter, and that no fentanyl was found. Their details were not released because of privacy laws.
The news conference was held days after Trump suspended on Monday a threat of steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau secured the tariff suspension after speaking to Trump about efforts to deploy new technology and personnel along the border and to launch cooperative efforts to fight organized crime, fentanyl smuggling and money laundering.
The tariffs pause forestalled, for now, the onset of a trade war that economists predicted would damage the economies of all involved.
Moreland, showcasing thermal imagery and aerial footage, said the RCMP was trying to “make it clear that we have the technology and the resources in place to keep our border secure.”
In the latest of the three incidents, a man drove into Canada from the Coutts port of entry connecting Montana and Alberta, and tried to flee when stopped for inspection, Moreland said. The man, a U.S. citizen, died of a self-inflicted firearm injury while being chased by police, Moreland added.
The day before, police caught four adults and five youths near Coutts after being tipped off by U.S. border patrol agents, while six people were arrested after crossing into the central Canadian province of Manitoba on January 14.
Moreland said the people were trying to enter Canada in harsh -20 to -30 Celsius (-4F to -22F) weather.
“They did not have hats, gloves, mittens, or anything that we would normally see in a Canadian winter,” Moreland said of the six arrested in Manitoba.
In January 2022, an Indian family of four froze to death in a snowstorm near the Manitoba-U.S. border.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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