Canada’s new fentanyl czar has been named

Canada has appointed a new fentanyl czar, part of the measures aimed at addressing concerns about border security made by U.S. President Donald Trump in tariff threats.

According to a release by the Prime Minister’s Office, Kevin Brosseau, a former senior law enforcement officer with the RCMP and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s deputy national security and intelligence advisor, has been named to the role.

The release says Brosseau will work with U.S. counterparts and law enforcement agencies to “accelerate Canada’s ongoing work to detect, disrupt, and dismantle the fentanyl trade.”

“Canada needs a fentanyl czar that will co-ordinate between agencies, move quickly to tackle challenges and bring over 20 years of RCMP experience to a crisis that is plaguing our communities,” Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said in a statement.

McGuinty remains responsible for both the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the minister of public safety.

Trump previously threatened to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada unless it worked to stop the flow of fentanyl and migrants across the border.

After Trump temporarily delayed imposing those tariffs, Trudeau said last Monday that Canada would introduce new measures to address the president’s concern.

In recent months, Trump has pointed to the flow of illegal fentanyl into the U.S. as a primary reason for his threats of tariffs.

White House officials say Canada and Mexico are conduits for shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S. in small packages that are not often inspected.

Public data shows 0.2 per cent of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from the Canadian border, while the vast majority originates from the southern border.

Brosseau, who grew up north of Edmonton in Bonnyville, Alta., obtained a law degree from the University of Alberta before graduating from Harvard Law School with a Master of Laws specializing in common law (corporate law and Indigenous law).

He was with the RCMP for over 20 years, including as deputy commissioner and before that, the commanding officer in Manitoba.

In 2019 he was appointed the senior assistant deputy minister at Transport Canada, and then in 2022 was appointed by Trudeau as the associate deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

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Mitchel Sollenberger, a political science professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, noted that the term “czar” has been used in the U.S. since the 20th century, including the creation of a “baseball commissioner czar” in the 1920s, a “homeless czar” appointed by George W. Bush in 2002 and a “homeland security czar” after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He added that the title was a way to grab the media’s attention and create buzz about a new position of power, “similar to the Romanovs.”

“But it is not a formal title and not a formal role and it usually does not have any formal powers. Some of these positions can be very ceremonial. But they can have significant power too,” Sollenberger said.

“Creating a czar title is a way for presidents to cut through bureaucratic tape. A lot of times they’re muddying the water on what is expressly allowed in law and what’s sort of a gray area,” he added.

For example, while Homan is the U.S. pick for border czar, it’s still unclear how much power he will have and what he will be able to accomplish.

It’s also unclear how much power the Canadian position will hold or who will lead it, but Sollenberger remains skeptical about whether it will bring any real change at the policy level.

In an email to Global News last Tuesday, Stephen Schneider, a criminology professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax said the role would likely be a position within the Canadian government responsible for overseeing and coordinating actions related to fentanyl, including policy and legislation.

That role would not be able to overtake the authorities or responsibilities that are under the powers of ministers, however. The public safety minister is responsible for the CBSA and the RCMP, and for introducing and developing any legislation through the departments that support that ministry that cover any changes to those agencies.

— With files from Reuters and Global News’ Katie Dangerfield