Tod Maffin criticizes Canada's $5 million lease of two 40-year-old Black Hawk helicopters to patrol the U.S. border as security theatre. CBC flight data shows the helicopters circled for weeks and caught only lost hikers, while 85% of guns used in Canadian crimes come from the U.S., mostly through ports of entry where the helicopters don't patrol.
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All right, so let me get this straight. The Canadian government was bullied into spending more than $5 million to lease two 40-year-old Black Hawk helicopters to patrol the American border. The American border. You know, the one Americans should be responsible for. And after 6 weeks of near-daily flights, they've stopped— are you ready? One illegal crossing. One. And they weren't even crossing into the US, they were coming to Canada. Look, yeah, I dropped out of school halfway through grade 9, so I'm no math whiz, but even I can tell you that's $5 million for a single bust. That's not security, that's security theater. But let's back up. This whole thing started because Donald Trump said he would slap tariffs on Canada if we didn't do more to stop migrants and fentanyl from crossing into the US. It was a lie, of course. There's no real border issue there, but this was the only way he could wriggle out of the free trade agreement that he negotiated in his first term. But instead of telling him where he can shove his timbits, the government tried to work with him, even going full Hollywood renting Blackhawks to put on a big flashy show of force. Security theatre. Because when it comes to actually stopping illegal crossings, these helicopters are about as effective as a canoe with a screen bottom. The RCMP already has drones and surveillance planes and ground patrols and infrared cameras. Boots on the ground. But sure, let's also add some relics from the '80s. So what have they spent their time doing? Well, according to flight data analyzed by the CBC, they've been flying around in circles. Burning fuel faster than bonhomme melts in July. One of them, Seafox, has been spotted buzzing back and forth across the Quebec-New York border where, after 6 weeks, it was finally involved in an operation. Hardened criminals, you ask? Cartel operation? No. 5 people lost in the woods with hypothermia. Meanwhile, that other helicopter's been patrolling the prairies, keeping a close eye on wheat fields? The odd moose? The occasional lost tourist? From North Dakota? And look, the US already runs rigorous aerial surveillance on the border, and yet somehow Canada was expected to duplicate that effort at enormous expense to protect the Americans' border. Meanwhile, the actual problems aren't being addressed. For one, it's the ports of entry where most illegal drugs actually come through. On the Canadian side, they're underfunded and understaffed. On the American side, I guess they're not checking trunks or something? We are. You know what we're finding in the trunks of Americans coming north? Guns. Illegal guns. Lots of them. Between 2017 and 2021, more than 5,000 firearms that had been smuggled into Canada were traced back to the U.S. Don't trust those numbers, Americans? They came from your ATF. Around the same dates, the Canadian Border Agency seized more than 68,000 firearms that people have been trying to mail into our country. 85% of guns used in crimes in Canada come from the US. But sure, Donald, we're the problem. And the worst part is, this is just the beginning. This is part of a $1.3 billion—
