Minnesota officials on alert as Canadian border guards prepare for attack

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota authorities are closely monitoring a major conflict to the north as Canadian border officials prepare for a strike.

“Our members gave us a mandate to strike,” said Mark Weber, president of the Canadian Customs and Immigration Union. “Ninety-six percent of them voted for it.”

Weber says the union is fighting for salaries and rights that most other police departments already have.

Minnesota politicians are not sitting idly by.

“Our government, the Walz government, meets regularly with the Canadian government to talk about this,” said Thom Petersen, Minnesota’s agriculture minister.

Petersen says his panic meter regarding a possible strike at the border is at six or seven out of ten.

“Canada is one of our, if not our, most important trading partners every year, along with Mexico and China,” he said.

Border officials play an important role in this trade.

“We do a lot of commercial traffic,” Weber said. “We are crucial for the economic aspect. Land borders are crossed by trucks. In maritime traffic, we move a lot of cargo by ships and the like.”

Federal government data shows that Minnesota exported $7 billion worth of goods to Canada, the state’s largest export destination, last year.

Agricultural trade plays a significant role in this.

“We often export feed, corn and various beans and things like that to Canada,” Petersen said. “That can be a big problem, as can seed and equipment.”

In a statement to WCCO, the Canadian government said, among other things: “The government is committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement for border guard employees… Employees have the right to strike, but this is not necessary at this time. We are ready and willing to return to the negotiating table at any time.”

“Our members take great pride in the work they do,” Weber said. “They love helping Americans when they get through and protecting Canadians. We want to continue to do that. We don’t want to go on strike.”

A strike could occur in early to mid-June. If it does happen, the crossing could take more than ten hours, according to Weber. According to Petersen, the state government is working with Canada to prepare for this possibility.