Premier wants Windsor to get a border patrol helicopter. So does city’s mayor | CBC News

Doug Ford is pushing for Windsor to get a helicopter to assist in patrolling the border along the Detroit River.

Recently, Ontario said it was committing millions to buy a handful of choppers in the Toronto-area and Ottawa.

Ontario’s premier now says it’s “extremely important” to protect the border, and that he’s directed the solicitor general to explore the costs of patrolling everywhere from Windsor to Niagara. 

“We’re going to support them, possibly with a helicopter,” Ford said to reporters.

Windsor’s mayor agrees, saying the region needs additional help monitoring the border.

“I think we’d appreciate more support … with air support because it’s a large space,” said Drew Dilkens. 

“You need that type of investment, that type of technology in the air to support the border side.”

Windsor, which overlooks Detroit along the river, currently has two major crossings: the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. A third crossing is soon on the way. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is set to open in the fall of 2025.

Canadian politicians continue to scramble for heightened border control measures since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on goods coming in from Canada and Mexico, unless the countries stopped what he called an “invasion” of drugs and “illegal aliens.”

WATCH | Trump’s mass deportation pledge raises fears of increase in Detroit-Windsor border swimmers:

Trump’s mass deportation pledge raises fears of increase in Detroit-Windsor border swimmers

Will Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation of undocumented immigrants push desperate people to illegally cross the Detroit River? Peter Berry, harbour master of the Windsor Port Authority, is worried about it. CBC’s Dalson Chen spoke with Berry and Ian Smith of the Windsor detachment of RCMP.

Last month, Windsor’s harbour master told CBC News he’s worried about a possible uptick in people trying to illegally cross the Detroit River.

Peter Berry, of the Windsor Port Authority, said he expects people will be more desperate to try to swim across, with Trump promising to enact mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

“These are people who have a goal, a destination in mind, where they can’t meet regular crossing requirements at a border point,” he said.

“I am seeing things I did not see this time last year.”