Edmonton unfairly thrown under the bus to further Trump’s agenda

Kevin Hassett, United States (U.S.) diplomat and economic advisor, has been pushing a false narrative about Canada’s border. Hassett has claimed that “Canada has a drug crisis, and it’s spilling into the U.S..” He cited this as the reason for the American tariffs. Specifically, Hassett used Edmonton as an example of Canada’s drug crisis. Hassett detailed how he saw an ambulance respond to someone overdosing outside his Edmonton hotel. In the same visit he claimed he saw a “fight with cops over drugs.” While Edmonton has faced drug-related issues, such as drug-poisoning, this is not unique to Edmonton or Canada. Simply put, the framing that the U.S. government’s trade war is a war on drugs is just propaganda.

Trump himself has said that the tariffs are an attempt to annex Canada through economic force. If we were to give Hassett the benefit of the doubt and believe that it really is over border protection, this still would not make sense. The U.S. seized 19.5 kilograms from Canada’s border and about 9,590 from the Mexico–U.S. border last year. According to data from the Government of Canada, less than one per cent of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from Canada. To propose tariffs over this does not make sense and is a long reach. 

To view things from Canada’s end, the U.S. border is by far the main entry point for illegal firearms into Canada. In 2024 the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized 839 firearms coming from the U.S.. From all other countries total the CBSA only seized 93 firearms. It would seem the U.S. is a threat to Canada’s national safety, not the other way around. Edmonton specifically is affected by this as well. In 2023, police arrested an Edmonton man in Texas for illegally buying guns to bring back to Canada. 

But to be clear, Edmonton does have a drug problem that the city needs to regulate better. The city had the highest in opioid deaths in Alberta in 2024. Many access the Opioid Dependency Program and other similar services. However, the city stopped funding a program that had nurses and outreach workers responding to overdoses in downtown Edmonton last year. Lessening the number of resources to help Edmontonians can’t, in any way, aid the current opioid crisis.

That being said, our opioid crisis is mainly a threat to us, not one that detrimentally affects the U.S.. In terms of border security, illegal weapons coming from the U.S. impacts Canada more than opioids coming from Canada affects the U.S.. Hassett’s comments were disingenuous and only serve as justification for the U.S.’s unfair and unnecessary trade war. And ultimately, scapegoating Canada will do nothing to help solve the U.S.’s very own fentanyl crisis.