A spike in production has likely made Canada a net exporter of fentanyl, a briefing note prepared by Global Affairs Canada earlier this year said
The growth of illegal Canadian fentanyl production came into focus over the weekend after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reportedly gave Canadian government leaders a clear impression that the runaway drug problem is his top priority, even in Canada-U.S. relations.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who, along with the prime minister, attended Friday’s dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, told CBC that it was a topic of discussion. “We talked about the challenge that fentanyl represents in Canada,” he said. Reporting elsewhere about the dinner discussion said Trump made it clear that the fentanyl epidemic is his top priority before he takes office on Jan. 20, including drugs being smuggled from Canada.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said last week that she and her fellow premiers have urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to act quickly on the fentanyl problem.
Trump threatened last week to slap a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods if the two respective governments didn’t take measures to reduce the flow of illegal drugs and migrants into the U.S.
Canada arguably faces as big a challenge in cracking down on the illegal fentanyl factories. These highly sophisticated facilities are hard to police as they largely source ingredients that are not themselves illegal.
“Seizures of Canada-sourced fentanyl in places like the U.S. and Australia suggest that domestic production is likely exceeding domestic demand, and that Canada is now a source (and transit) country for fentanyl to some markets,” read the note.
While still just a small fraction of the total amount of fentanyl entering the U.S., this nevertheless exceeds the volume of product intercepted by Canadian agents on the other side of the border.
“As an example, Health Canada needs to be able to share where fentanyl and other drugs seized by police forces are manufactured and synthesized for enhanced tracking and tracing, like they do in the U.S.” Ford said.
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