QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Cross-Border Transportation of Firearms
June 16, 2022
Honourable senators, my question today is once again for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Leader, as Statistics Canada reported recently, gun crime has gone up under this NDP-Liberal government, yet their response is to bring forward arbitrary bans, soft-on-crime legislation and a complicated buyback program that is still not operational. Meanwhile, illegal guns continue to pour into Canada across our border with the United States.
An answer to one of my written questions on the Order Paper revealed that between 2016 and 2020 the Canada Border Services Agency seized just 225 prima facie crime guns, or guns suspected or known to be destined for illicit use in Canada.
Leader, does this sound sufficient to you? Are you content with poor results on stopping smuggled guns, which are by far the main source of guns on the street? If your government genuinely wants to tackle gun crime, why are you, under Bill C-5, removing mandatory jail time for criminals who smuggle guns into our country?
Thank you for your question. There is a lot in there.
Government is attacking the issue of gun crime in a number of ways. The government does not share your views on the importance or efficacy of the measures, nor does it share your views on mandatory minimums — we’ll have an opportunity to debate that.
Is the government satisfied that it has stopped the flow of illegal guns across the border? Of course not. I’m advised, though, that the CBSA last year seized a record number of illegal firearms, and the government, realizing that it has more to do, has invested over $350 million in law enforcement to stop the flow of illegal gun trafficking.
The scourge of gun violence in this country is a serious problem and requires serious responses. That’s what the government of the day is providing to Canadians.
Of course, leader, there is no argument that this government is spending needless amounts — millions and millions of dollars — on what they are doing. That was not even mentioned in my question.
Let’s see if you can answer this question without the help of my friend Senator Lankin.
The Prime Minister likes to point to increasing jail time for illegal gun smugglers, from 10 years to 14 years through Bill C-5, as evidence that he is doing something on gun smuggling. A recent answer to a written question on the Order Paper states that for criminal cases between April 2019 and March 2020, where gun smuggling was the most serious offence:
Of the eight cases, two resulted in convictions and six resulted in stays of proceedings or charges being withdrawn. Of the two cases involving findings of guilt for an offence under section 103, one involved a period of imprisonment of greater than 24 months and one involved a period of probation between 2 and 3 years.
Leader, the Library of Parliament could not find a single instance in the past 20 years when even the current maximum of 10 years had ever been imposed by a court.
So, leader, how does raising the minimum to 14 years achieve anything? They are not even receiving the 10 that exists now. Where is the real action necessary to combat illegal gun smuggling across the border? When does it start, leader?
The actions have started, and they will continue.
As for what sentences courts hand out, with or without minimum sentences, the government has confidence in the abilities of the courts to follow their constitutional requirement to make sure that punishments are proportionate to the nature of the crime and the circumstances under which the crime has been committed.
I might add that the measures to deal with a cross-border transportation of arms range from illegal smuggling operations of great magnitude to a collector who inadvertently fails to fill out the paperwork after returning from a gun show across the border.
All circumstances should be taken into account by judges in the exercise of their judicial discretion. That’s the intent and purpose of Bill C-5.
