Windsor West New Democrat MP Brian Masse states he's shocked and disappointed by the Liberal government's border plan.
Masse posted to social media on his disappointment that the Canada Border Services Agency was not consulted on the plan.
The federal government laid out a five-pillared approach to boosting border security including detecting and disrupting fentanyl trade, new tools for law enforcement, enhancing operational coordination, increasing information sharing, and minimizing unnecessary border volumes.
Plans also included a new aerial task force comprised of helicopters, drones and surveillance towers.
He says CBSA needs at least 2,000 new officers to cover current gaps, and that renting helicopters, and buying new equipment are not real solutions.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Masse says the border is still feeling the impact after the Conservatives fired over 1,100 CBSA officers in 2014.
"We've been behind the eight-ball since then, so we need about 2,000 to 3,000 people trained and back in service to meet the loss during COVID with not having two tranches of trainees, and then second of all, the retirees and then expanded services. So that's where I wanted to see the focus, and that didn't happen."
He says these flashy gadgets aren't going to do what workers could be doing.
"I don't know what a helicopter is going to do if we don't have the resources to act on the actually smuggling going down on the ground level. A lot of the focus is on export of items and goods and services, where I'm also challenging is the United States there has to be a scrutiny on all the illegal drugs and guns coming into Canada in particular, and we have to hold them accountable to that."
He says the CBSA was not consulted.
"There's a lot of problems with communication that are happening now, and so for me, if we're going to bring in some of these ideas, I don't want them downloaded to municipal taxpayers. You pay enough on property taxes alone, and having property taxes pay for policing in one form or the other of the international border is simply not fair to our residents here."
Masse adds that he will be bringing up this plan in Parliament.
The $1.3-billion plan was earmarked in the fall economic statement, but it wasn't stated how it would be paid for.
The announcement comes after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports unless Canada halts the flow of illegal drugs and migrants over the shared border.