Canada on Tuesday named a former deputy commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the country’s fentanyl czar, hoping to show the U.S. it is working to prevent production and distribution of the synthetic opioid.

The federal government has appointed former Mountie Kevin Brosseau as Canada's new "fentanyl czar," a role created as part of a last-minute deal to avert a major trade war with the United States.

The Liberal government has named Kevin Brosseau, a former senior Mountie, to be the federal point person on fighting the spread of deadly fentanyl.