Parliamentary Committee Notes: Curbing Firearms Smuggling and Trafficking
Proposed Response:
- Tackling gun smuggling into Canada and firearms trafficking is essential to curb the supply of illegal guns that are used in crime.
- Bill C-21 would increase the maximum penalties for firearms trafficking, smuggling and related offences from 10 to 14 years imprisonment.
- Illegal guns also come from domestic straw purchasing. The Bill would authorize the Canadian Firearms Program to disclose information to police if there is reasonable grounds to suspect an individual of straw purchasing.
- The Bill will strengthen border security by requiring that an individual present a valid firearms licence in order to import non-prohibited ammunition for firearms, as well as transfer policy responsibility for inadmissibility on the basis of the commission of a criminal offence at the border to the Minister of Public Safety, to better align related ministerial responsibilities.
- Changes to theImmigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) will ensure that foreign nationals who are inadmissible to Canada based on having committed certain regulatory offences at the border, including firearms offences, would be subject to admissibility hearings and removal, as appropriate.
- These measures, once enacted, would complement our Government's investments in the RCMP and CBSA to detect and disrupt gun smuggling through increased intelligence, investigations and enforcement.
- These investments and efforts have been paying off. In 2021, the CBSA seized more than 1,100 firearms, more than double the number from 2020 – including the seizure of 56 prohibited firearms at the Blue Water Bridge Port of entry in Sarnia, Ontario – one of the largest firearm seizures in the Southern Ontario Region in recent history.
- Further, investments are helping us increase the RCMP Canadian National Firearms Tracing Centre (CNFTC) capacity to trace firearms and identify the movement of illegal firearms flowing into and within Canada, develop a new national tracing database and establish a national network to detect straw purchasing, and promote information sharing between law enforcement partners to counter firearms trafficking and smuggling.
Curbing Firearms Smuggling and Trafficking
Background:
Increase in Penalties for Firearms Trafficking and Smuggling
Bill C-21 would increase maximum penalties under the Criminal Code for firearms smuggling and trafficking in sections 99, 100, and 103 from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment. While current sentences of imprisonment for firearms trafficking range from 2 to 10 years (with an average sentence of 8 years), and 3 to 4 years for firearms smuggling, an increase to a maximum penalty for these offences would send a message to potential criminals and the courts that Parliament unequivocally denounces these crimes. The Bill would also increase the maximum penalties for sections 95 (possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm) and 96 (possession of a weapon obtained by the commission of an offence) from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment, given that both offences can involve firearms obtained through smuggling and trafficking.
A provision which establishes a high maximum penalty still permits the judge to tailor the sentence to the circumstances of the offence and the offender. Section 95 includes mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) that were found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Nur (2015); though they remain on the books, they are not enforceable. Section 96 includes a one-year MMP, which may be reformed as part of the Minister of Justice's forthcoming initiative on criminal justice reform, which includes addressing MMPs.
Strengthening the Admissibility Framework at the Border
Currently under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has exclusive policy responsibility for inadmissibility due to the commission of criminal offences at ports of entry at the time of entry to Canada (trans-border criminality), while the Minister of Public Safety has exclusive policy responsibility for examinations at ports of entry, and for inadmissibility on other serious grounds of security, human rights violations, and organized criminality.
Transferring policy responsibility for trans-border criminality to the Minister of Public Safety would allow the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to further advance mandate letter commitments of the Minister of Public Safety, including strengthening Canada's posture with respect to the smuggling of opioids and firearms and other criminal offences upon entry to Canada, and modernizing processes at ports of entry. The proposed approach would address fragmentation of policy responsibility and ensure greater coherence with respect to immigration enforcement and inadmissibility policies that are applicable exclusively at Canada's borders.
Disclosure of Information
These measures are principally aimed at combatting suspected straw purchasing by sharing information about bulk purchases. The Bill would authorize the Commissioner of Firearms, the Registrar and Chief Firearms Officers to disclose specified personal information to law enforcement agencies if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual is using, or has used, a past or current licence to purchase firearms for the purpose of illegal trafficking.
The specified personal information would include such items as a person's name, date of birth and address, the licence number and province of issuance, and such information as the serial number, make, model, and manufacturer of all known firearms. The Governor in Council would have the power to add to the list of specified disclosure information. To enhance transparency, the number of such disclosures made in a year would be added to the annual report the Commissioner of Firearms makes to the Minister.
Government Measures to Combat Smuggling and Trafficking
The Initiative to Take Action against Gun and Gang Violence (ITAAGGV) provides $125M to the RCMP and CBSA to enhance firearms investigations and strengthen controls at the border to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country. This investment enhances the RCMP's regional firearms intelligence presence and creates a dedicated analytical capacity to develop actionable intelligence reports for law enforcement at the local, regional and provincial/territorial level. For CBSA, this funding provides them with greater operational capacity to screen passengers and examine commercial shipments, thereby protecting Canadians by preventing firearms and inadmissible people from coming into the country illegally. It also supports CBSA investments in an all-weather detector dog training facility, additional detector dog teams at key highway crossings, expansion of x-ray technology at postal centers and air cargo facilities, and key training in the detection of concealed goods in vehicles crossing our borders.
Building on these investments, in Budget 2021 an investment of $312M over five years was announced, starting in 2021–22, and $41.4M per year ongoing for PS, CBSA, and the RCMP to implement a suite of measures to help protect Canadians from gun violence and to fight gun smuggling and trafficking. This funding includes investments to increase RCMP capacity to trace crime guns and detect straw purchasing and enhance CBSA intelligence and investigative capacity at the border.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Manager, Firearms Policy Division
Approved by: Talal Dakalbab, Assistant Deputy Minister, Crime Prevention Branch, 613-852-1167
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