Senator Gold, the 12 days of action to end violence against women have started. Every year, from November 25 to December 6, we rally together during the days of action to end violence against women. According to the UN, one woman is killed every 10 minutes somewhere in the world. Here, in Canada, 164 femicides were committed in 2023, including 22 gun killings.

Bill C-21 on gun control received Royal Assent in 2023, almost a year ago, after it was passed by the Senate. A Canada-wide survey shows that 70% of Canadians support stricter firearms control, while close to 90% support removing firearm licences in cases of domestic violence. Fully 90% of Canadians support removing licences from people who have committed domestic violence. I’m repeating this fact to underscore its importance—

Thank you for the question and for raising this important issue, senator.

The current government has implemented the strictest gun control measures that Canada has seen in the past 25 years, and it is committed to continuing that work.

During its time in office, the government put in place a national freeze on the purchase, transfer and importation of handguns, harsher sentences for gun traffickers, new offences for the distribution of computer data used to manufacture prohibited firearms, and the obligation to hold a valid licence to acquire gun barrels and slides, which enables the government to crackdown on ghost guns. I believe that approximately 2,000 models of guns will be covered by the compensation program. The two phases should be operational by the time the amnesty order expires on October 31, 2025, and the work will continue.

Thank you, Senator Gold, but I’m talking about some very important provisions that have not yet come into force and would require only an order-in-council: section 6.1, which makes it inadmissible for a person who has been subject to a protection order or has been convicted of committing violence to hold a firearms licence; section 70.1, which requires a chief firearms officer to suspend a licence if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a licence holder may have committed domestic violence; and finally section 70.2, which automatically revokes the licence of an individual who becomes the subject of a protection order. What does the government plan to do?

I’m not sure I heard your question correctly, but as for the status of these legal provisions, I’ll ask the minister to follow up on that.