Canada, G7 security partners aim to disrupt organized crime after Ottawa meeting

Canada’s public safety minister says he’s had good conversations with U.S. representatives after a two-day meeting in Ottawa.

Gary Anandasangaree spoke with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Homeland Security’s under-secretary at the meeting of G7 interior and security ministers.

The G7 is an informal group of leading economies, which includes Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union.

They discussed Canada’s efforts to boost border security through new spending and legislation.

The White House has expressed concern about the flow of fentanyl from Canada into the U.S., a criticism President Donald Trump has used to justify tariffs.

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Data from the Canadian federal government and U.S. government agencies have confirmed Canada is not a significant source of fentanyl for the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, G7 ministers have pledged to work together to aggressively fight transnational organized crime.

They said they were committed to disrupting the ability of global crime groups to finance and profit from their “heinous activities”.

The ministers say they agreed to target migrant smuggling through adoption of a “follow-the-money” approach involving financial intelligence, and exploring the idea of travel measures to mitigate organized crime.

Ministers called on industries to invest in prevention efforts, including digital literacy, to protect users and to reduce the risk of radicalization.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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