{"id":16377,"date":"2025-02-12T21:34:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/eliminating-scourge-of-fentanyl-main-goal-of-canadas-new-czar-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T21:34:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:34:03","slug":"eliminating-scourge-of-fentanyl-main-goal-of-canadas-new-czar-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/eliminating-scourge-of-fentanyl-main-goal-of-canadas-new-czar-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Eliminating \u2018scourge\u2019 of fentanyl main goal of Canada\u2019s new czar – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Canada\u2019s new fentanyl<\/a> czar Kevin Brosseau<\/a> said Wednesday he will bring an \u201cintensity\u201d to efforts to eliminate the drug\u2019s scourge on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n

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Brosseau, who was named to the role Tuesday afternoon, spent his first full day on the job Wednesday touring a border point east of Kingston, near Lansdowne, Ont., alongside Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.<\/p>\n

Brosseau, a former senior Mountie, said his mandate is to ensure that officials on both sides of the border, and in communities across Canada, are communicating effectively on their efforts to fight the fentanyl crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to be able to bring an intensity to the work being carried out by the thousands of men and women in this country and the United States trying to deal with a real public safety and national security crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Brosseau spent more than 20 years with the RCMP, including as deputy commissioner and as the commanding officer in Manitoba. More recently he was the deputy national security and intelligence adviser to the prime minister.<\/p>\n

His new position was created by Ottawa in response to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s threat earlier this month to impose broad-based 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, tied to what he claimed was a lack of effort by the two countries on fighting the fentanyl trade. He delayed those levies until at least March 4 in response to border security commitments from both countries.<\/p>\n

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that it intercepted 19 kilograms of fentanyl near the northern border between October 2023 and September 2024, less than one per cent of fentanyl seized by U.S. border guards in that period.<\/p>\n

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Just 0.2 grams of fentanyl can deliver a fatal dose.<\/p>\n

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Brosseau said he is committed to reducing the amount of fentanyl heading south.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the number to zero is in fact the goal, and should be our goal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a national security and a public safety crisis. We should be focused on eliminating the scourge that is fentanyl in this country and in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n