The federal Justice Department says Justice Minister Sean Fraser, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Canada’s fentanyl czar, Kevin Brosseau, held a “productive first meeting” with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in Washington on Wednesday afternoon.
“They discussed shared priorities and explored ways to strengthen collaboration between their department,” Justice Canada said in a readout following the meeting.
The department also said the meeting was an opportunity for Canada to highlight its efforts to keep communities safe from fentanyl and transnational criminal organizations on both sides of the border.
The meeting lasted about 45 minutes and the tone was warm and cordial, according to Fraser’s office. The Canadian officials also exchanged personal numbers with Bondi and agreed to stay in close contact.
The focus of the meeting was border security and criminal justice reforms the Canadian government is planning to introduce this fall, including bail reform, sentencing and legislation to address gender-based violence.
The Canadian officials also offered their condolences over a shooting at a Minnesota church that has left three dead, including the shooter, and 17 people injured.
It was Canada’s second high-level meeting with U.S. officials since Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to remove retaliatory tariffs on CUSMA-compliant U.S. goods by Sept. 1.
The prime minister said he got reassurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that dropping retaliatory tariffs would “intensify” trade discussions between the two countries.
We’re working with partners to keep communities safe.<br><br>Discussed shared priorities with U.S. AG <a href=”https://twitter.com/PamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PamBondi</a> in Washington with <a href=”https://twitter.com/gary_srp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Gary_srp</a>, our first chat as counterparts, alongside 🇨🇦’s Fentanyl Czar.<br><br>/2 <a href=”https://t.co/JGCFdKumv2″>pic.twitter.com/JGCFdKumv2</a>
On Wednesday, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office said he was leaving Washington with a sense that progress was made after a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The two men also met on Tuesday. LeBlanc’s office said at the time the two had a “constructive [and] lengthy” meeting.
A Canadian source told CBC News that Tuesday’s meeting was meant to last an hour, but went for 90 minutes. The source said there was a sense of optimism on the Canadian side following the meeting.
The source with knowledge of the meeting between Bondi and Canadian officials said their discussions were not directly related to Canada-U.S. trade talks.
However, Trump has repeatedly justified his tariffs on Canadian goods by arguing Canada has not done enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
