Canada’s national police force says it will continue to strengthen ties with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, even as experts warn against deepening the relationship at a time of growing divergence between the neighbouring countries.
asserted
experts → say → countries
This year, RCMP-FBI co-operation has been credited for dismantling gangs such as Ryan Wedding’s alleged drug-trafficking organization, with Mountie Commissioner Mike Duheme appearing alongside Trump administration officials to announce these takedowns.
asserted
Duheme → credit → takedowns
“Given the shared border between Canada and the United States, the RCMP works closely with U.S. law enforcement partners,” RCMP spokeswoman Jessica Kingsbury said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail, adding that “expanded operational collaboration with U.S. agencies has enhanced threat identification, information sharing, and contributed to high-profile arrests.”
However, in a new book, Kent Roach, a law professor at the University of Toronto who chaired the RCMP’s management advisory board in 2023, argues that the Mounties have grown too dependent on the FBI.
asserted
Mounties → give → FBI
Prof. Roach writes that the Mounties have relied on the bureau’s tips to learn about impending terrorist attacks and other national-security threats to Canada, and they are also embracing FBI-led partnerships to put some of Canada’s most wanted criminals before U.S. courts.
asserted
they → write → courts
He argues, however, that this is not addressing the obstacles in the Canadian criminal-justice system against tackling complex crime and also exposes Canadian police to U.S. administrations who are being accused of politicizing policing.
asserted
who → argue → policing
“We have to imagine a world where the Americans, and specifically the FBI, may be less reliable partners,” Prof. Roach said in an interview.
uncertain
Roach → have → interview
“We need to be able to do these complex national security, and also financial crime and organized crime prosecutions, as part of our sovereignty.”
asserted
We → need → sovereignty
In Prof. Roach’s book, Red Alert, he says U.S. law enforcement agencies are being politicized.
asserted
agencies → say → book
He adds that Canada’s federal government has yet to address longstanding calls for structural RCMP reform, which has left the FBI filling gaps in Canadian law enforcement.
asserted
which → add → enforcement
A 2023 report from a committee of parliamentarians said the Canadian government might need to strike up a new national police force entirely, if it could not better enable the RCMP to tackle transnational crime.
uncertain
it → say → crime
Prof. Roach also criticizes the response of former prime minister Justin Trudeau to U.S. President Donald Trump, who imposed emergency tariffs on Canada in 2025 over concerns that fentanyl was flooding from this country into the U.S. (A Globe investigation found Mr. Trump was using misleading data about drug seizures at the border to justify the tariffs.)
asserted
Trump → criticize → tariffs
Mr. Trudeau promised to be a better security partner to the United States, with his government pledging hundreds of millions in new funds to hire more Mounties and also leasing Blackhawk helicopters to patrol the border.
asserted
government → promise → border
“I think Trudeau was panicking over Trump,” Prof. Roach said in an interview.
asserted
Roach → think → interview
Over the past two years, the RCMP has unveiled operational partnerships with the California FBI that are now being credited for taking down transnational gangs.
asserted
that → unveil → gangs
Mr. Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, was among the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives when he was arrested in Mexico in January on multiple charges of drug trafficking and murder conspiracy.
asserted
he → want → trafficking
He had spent more than a decade on the run and is now set to stand trial in Los Angeles, where he has pleaded not guilty.
asserted
he → spend → Angeles
About 30 individuals tied to his gang have been arrested under U.S. laws, according to indictments filed in California.
uncertain
individuals → tie → California
At least 12 of those accused have been arrested by police in Canada and most are fighting extradition.
asserted
most → accuse → extradition
Canada’s top police official was in California as FBI Director Kash Patel escorted a shackled Mr. Wedding off a U.S. plane after he was apprehended in Mexico.
asserted
he → escort → Mexico
“This is a great day for public safety in Canada,” Commissioner Duheme said in January, adding the RCMP supplied crucial information to the FBI to help dismantle the gang.
asserted
RCMP → say → gang
Court documents filed in California allege Mr. Wedding and his Canadian co-conspirators trafficked tonnes of cocaine by truck and hired gunmen to kill Canadian citizens.
asserted
Wedding → file → citizens
In another operational partnership announced in July, the California FBI and RCMP highlighted U.S. charges against 37 people allegedly tied to gangs – including ones connected to India’s most notorious crime lord, Lawrence Bishnoi.
uncertain
FBI → announce → lord
The U.S. Department of Justice now alleges Mr. Bishnoi personally directed political assassinations, murders and shootings, including the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen shot dead in Surrey in 2023.
asserted
Bishnoi → allege → 2023
Commissioner Duheme was quoted in the U.S. DOJ statement announcing the arrests, saying that “together, we disrupted the operations of organized criminals.”
asserted
we → quote → criminals
The close ties have persisted despite an apparent threat from Mr. Patel on X in late August to withdraw from the FBI’s relationship with Canada.
asserted
ties → persist → Canada
The threat was over an internal CBC/Radio-Canada guideline about removing the word “terrorism” from coverage of the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11.
asserted
threat → remove → Sept.
It prompted the RCMP to make inquiries about whether the U.S. agency had halted intelligence sharing.
asserted
agency → prompt → sharing
Three national-security sources with direct knowledge of the probe previously told The Globe and Mail that the RCMP had not found any indication that intelligence sharing from the FBI had been interrupted.
asserted
sharing → tell → FBI
The Globe did not name the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.
asserted
they → name → probe
(The public broadcaster subsequently reversed the policy.)
asserted
broadcaster → reverse → policy
In late September, the FBI and the Mounties held a joint press conference in Los Angeles to announce a US$1-million reward for information leading to the arrest of an Indian gangster allegedly tied to the assassination of Mr. Nijjar.
uncertain
FBI → hold → Nijjar
And on Oct. 6, representatives from the B.C. RCMP were present with FBI officials in Seattle to announce the arrest of a 30-year-old in Washington State who authorities allege provided advice, money and technical assistance to the teenager who perpetrated the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., earlier this year.
asserted
who → announce → Ridge
Cases such as these show Canadian police are getting better at leveraging vital U.S. relationships, said Peter German, a retired former RCMP deputy commissioner.
asserted
German → show → relationships
“The United States is 10 times larger than us, it has a 10 times larger law enforcement footprint around the world,” Mr. German said.
asserted
German → have → world
He added that U.S. laws make it easier for the FBI to obtain evidence and prosecute complex transnational crime cases.
asserted
FBI → add → cases
“The U.S. is much more agile at conducting a criminal investigation than we are in Canada.”
asserted
we → conduct → Canada
“The FBI has bailed out the RCMP many times,” Mr. Roach writes in Red Alert, noting that FBI intelligence tips have kickstarted several of Canada’s most urgent national security investigations.
asserted
tips → bail → investigations
Ms. Kingsbury, the RCMP’s spokeswoman, said the Mounties maintain “full independence” while accepting tips about threats from foreign agencies.
asserted
Mounties → say → agencies
Such exchanges, she said, have saved Canadian lives.
asserted
she → say → lives
“There is no doubt that the RCMP benefits from its international partnerships, including those in the United States,” she said.
asserted
she → be → States
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
