Question Period Note: Government Measures to Reduce Gun Violence

The Government of Canada’s commitments to strengthen gun control and ban assault-style firearms.

• We have seen consensus across the country that more must be done to counter firearms violence in our cities.

• In the Fall Economic Statement, our government took another step to protect Canadians from gun violence by committing $250 million over five years directly to municipalities and Indigenous communities to support anti-gang programming and prevention programs for youth-at-risk.

• The funding complements our government’s previous investments to support provincial and territorial activities through the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence.

• Under the Gun and Gang Initiative, more than $214 million, over five years is being directed to our provincial and territorial partners to combat gun and gang violence.

• This year, our Government will spend $85 million to take action against gun and gang violence, including:

o $44.2 million in contribution funding for provinces and territories to support prevention and enforcement activities;
o $30.8 million for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to reduce border-related gang activity and prevent smuggled firearms from entering the country; and
o $5.4 million for the RCMP for operating and capital expenditures that will enhance capacity for investigations and firearms-related enforcement activities.
o $2.1 million for the Youth Gang Prevention Fund, supporting prevention activities in Indigenous communities across Canada;
o $2.5 million to Public Safety to engage in collaboration and enhance federal leadership under the Initiative;

• Contribution agreements are now in place with most provinces and territories. We look forward to learning about how these investments are helping youth-at-risk and making a difference in our communities.

• Our Government will also continue its efforts to strengthen Canada’s gun control framework. On May 1, 2020, we took action to protect Canadians by banning assault-style firearms and stopping the proliferation of these dangerous firearms.

• We also intend to introduce a red-flag regime to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who may pose a risk to themselves, their partners or kids or others.

• We will continue to work with our partners and municipalities to combat handguns and strengthen controls to prevent smuggled firearms from entering our country and getting into the hands of criminals. We will strengthen storage laws act as a deterrent to theft.

If pressed on buyback:
• As you know, Public Safety Canada is working with the RCMP to advance the development of a buyback program for the recently prohibited assault-style firearms. We will soon work with Parliament, as well as provincial and territorial partners to get this right for law-abiding gun owners and businesses while making sure that program costs are contained.

• To assist in meeting this dual objective, my Department has published an amended request for proposals (RFP) on October 16 to obtain professional services for the provision of advice on options and approaches to further inform and build upon ongoing efforts to develop a buy-back program. Specifically, this advice would focus on firearms pricing models, as well as on the design, implementation and management of a buy-back program for recently prohibited firearms.

• This amended RFP is reflective of the feedback we have received from prospective bidders following the conclusion of a previous solicitation process. We will provide an update on the outcome of the currently solicitation process in the coming weeks.

In the 2021 Fall Economic Statement the government committed to providing dedicated funding of $250 million over five years, beginning next fiscal year to municipalities and Indigenous communities to support prevention and intervention programs to reduce gun and gang violence.

The new funding builds on the Government’s earlier investments, in 2018, of $327.6 million over five years, and $100 million ongoing, to establish the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence. The majority of resources, approximately $214 million over 5 years is allocated to provinces and territories (PTs) to combat the issue of gun and gang violence in communities across Canada, under the Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund (GGVAF)These resources complement existing efforts under the National Crime Prevention Strategy through the Youth Gang Prevention Fund, which received additional $8 million over four years beginning 2019. It is a horizontal initiative led by Public Safety Canada (PS) with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP.

The GGVAF combats the issue of gun and gang violence in communities across Canada by distributing to partners within their jurisdiction that can help:
• Develop and deliver gun and gang violence prevention and intervention initiatives;
• Enhance law enforcement and prosecution capacity to address gun and gang violence;
• Support data gathering/reporting, and research, knowledge development and information around gun and gang violence;
• Provide training for enforcement, prevention or other professionals; and,
• Support for the development/refinement of strategies on gun and gang violence and the measurement of results of initiatives.

The Government also provided $86 million to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency to enhance firearms investigations and strengthen controls at the border to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country.

$34.5M over five years is provided to the RCMP, with $5.4M in 2020-21, to support the new Integrated Criminal Firearms Initiative (ICFI) which expands the services available to law enforcement by enhancing several capabilities to better combat the use of illegal firearms and improve the national collection, analysis and sharing of firearms-related intelligence and information.

$51.2M is provided to the CBSA over five years to enhance their capacity to stem the flow of inadmissible travellers and illegal firearms from entering Canada at vulnerable points of entry and through processing postal facilities. In 2020-21, the CBSA will receive $30.8M to invest in the deployment of additional Detector Dog Teams, the construction and finalization of the All Weather Facility, the pilot and training stages of the Advanced Vehicle Concealment course, as well as procured and installed equipment (e.g. handheld devices, vehicles, trace detection tools etc.) to enhance air cargo security and pallet imaging.

In 2020-21, the bulk of the funding provided to PS is Vote 5 (Grants and Contributions), totaling approximately $46.3M, that includes $44.2M for the GGVAF and $2.1M for the Youth Gang Prevention Fund. PS also receives Vote 1 (O&M) funding of approximately $2.5M to administer the grants and contributions, conduct research and enhance federal leadership in addressing gun and gang violence.

Twelve PTs have signed multi-year funding agreements under the GGVAF. Prince Edward Island is currently engaged in the signature process for their contribution agreement. Jurisdictions have prioritized a number of initiatives including:
• Ontario has launched Justice Centres holding individuals accountable for their offences while connecting them to services (such as health, mental health, addictions, housing, and employment supports) that reduce the risk of re-offending;
• Québec is developing an approach to street work in Aboriginal communities via a pilot project to support communities and increase the protectives factors for Aboriginal youth; and
• Nunavut is raising public awareness of firearm safety and the root causes of violence and mental health challenges through a multi-faceted educational campaign.

Firearms-related homicide doubled from 2013 to 2017 (134 to 267), fell slightly in 2018 (249), and increased again in 2019 (261). Shootings are now the most common method of homicide. According to police, gang violence accounted for approximately 51% of firearms-related homicides in 2018 and 53% in 2019.

This rising firearms-related violence is fueling public concern and giving rise to demands for federal action to curtail the availability and use of firearms in Canada.

On May 1, 2020, the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted were amended to prescribe as prohibited approximately 1,500 models of firearms and their variants, along with upper receivers for some newly-prohibited firearms. Of those, nine principal models of assault-style firearms are prohibited as they have semi-automatic action with sustained rapid-fire capability (tactical military design with large magazine capacity), are of modern design, and are present in large volumes in the Canadian market. Also included are two categories of firearm that exceed safe civilian use: firearms with 20 mm bore or greater or with a muzzle energy of greater than 10,000 Joules.

Firearms smuggling

The cross-border smuggling of firearms poses a threat to the safety and security of Canada. Given the availability of firearms in the United States, including firearms that are strictly controlled or prohibited in Canada, most seizures happen at the Canada-US land border. The CBSA seizes large quantities of firearms every year from U.S. citizens, mostly from non-compliant travellers attempting to retain their personal firearms while travelling. There is no doubt, however, that there are firearms entering the country undetected, as evidenced through gun crimes in Canada that involve illicit firearms.

The CBSA is leveraging investments made through the Initiative to Take Action against Gun and Gang Violence, to enhance its capacity to stem the flow of inadmissible travellers and illegal firearms entering Canada at vulnerable points of entry and through postal facilities. It is also procuring equipment to enhance air cargo security and pallet imaging, enhancing intelligence collection and production abilities, and improving border operations through measures aimed at enhancing the CBSA’s capacity to detect and interdict illegal firearms at the border.

Designing a Buyback Program: Request for Proposal and Way Forward

In August 2020, Public Safety Canada published a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking professional services for the development of advice on options and approaches to inform firearms pricing models, as well as the design, implementation and management of a buyback program for recently prohibited firearms. The original RFP closed on September 9. Unfortunately, the bid evaluation process did not yield to the identification of a winning bidder. This is an unfortunate yet not uncommon outcome in the sphere of public procurement. Public Safety has amended the original RFP based on extensive consultations with the Industry, and re-issued a new RFP on October 16. This RFP has closed on November 10, and should lead to a contract award sometime in the December timeframe.

The RFP is built in two phases. The first focuses on developing pricing and compensation models and design options. The second, determined through a task authorization process, will focus on the implementation, while the exact tasks and scope will be further refined with the successful contractor and will be based upon the outcomes of phase 1. Overseeing the storage, transportation and destruction of confiscated firearms would not be services covered under the current RFP. The contractor is expected to complete extensive research in order to develop various options required under the contract, and may be privy to some personal information. To that extent, the security clearance requirements have been established accordingly.

Both Public Safety Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be ready to work with and assist the winning bidder to advance its work as expeditiously as possible.

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