QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Firearms Control
February 28, 2024
My question is for the government leader regarding a terrifying incident that took place last week in my home province of B.C.
Early last Thursday morning, in the city of White Rock, shooters used what appeared to be machine guns to open fire on a vehicle at a home in a residential neighbourhood. Four people were sent to hospital with serious injuries.
Machine guns have been banned in Canada since the 1970s, but that didn’t prevent this incident from occurring. The Trudeau government is going after trained, tested and law-abiding gun owners instead of illegal gun smugglers. How does that do anything to stop such crimes?
The Senate and Parliament passed Bill C-21 recently. We had a full debate on it, and it was the will of this chamber to support the government’s initiatives to strengthen gun control in this country, and to ban handguns and other categories. There’s no question, colleagues — and no one in this government denies or could deny — that there remains a problem with illegal guns and gangs, and at the borders.
The government has put into place significant resources over the last number of years that strengthen our border control measures. Over a thousand new members at the Canada Border Services Agency have been hired since this government came to power, and it will continue to do what it can. Local law enforcement, of course, will continue to do what it can to protect our citizens from harm.
I voted against Bill C-21, which punishes law-abiding gun owners.
Leader, closed-circuit television footage of this shooting has been posted online. It shows that more than 100 bullets were sprayed in just a matter of seconds by what looked to be machine guns. No one has been arrested, and the community is rightfully afraid.
Instead of wasting money on “ArriveScam” at the Canada Border Services Agency, why wasn’t that money used at the border to prevent gangs from smuggling illegal weapons into our country?
Thank you for the question.
More resources have been spent at the border, first of all. Second, the money that is spent to police and administer our law enforcement — in cities such as White Rock, in provinces such as yours, or across the country — is a matter that is within provincial jurisdiction. The government is doing what it can at the border. It has done what it can via Bill C-21 to remove the illegal trafficking of automatic weapons. And it will continue to do its part with its partners to keep Canadians safe.
