Parliamentary Committee Notes: Speaking Notes

October, 2023 (TBC)

Check Against Delivery

Word Count: 1418 (10 mins)

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I join you in acknowledging that we meet on traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

As always, it is a pleasure to meet with the committee.

We can all agree:

No single measure or initiative will solve the challenge of gun violence, nor will it solve the challenges posed by gangs or organized crime.

The solutions truly come from communities, collaborating with many partners, with the shared objectives of being smart on crime and making our streets safer.

That’s why the bill we are discussing today is but one element of the government’s broad agenda to tackle this pressing public health and safety issue—an issue that intersects with gender-based violence, racism and other systemic challenges.

Outside of this Bill, the Government has brought into force common sense regulations such as:

Since 2016, the federal government has invested more than $1.3 billion in measures to address gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of gangs and criminals.

These investments are working to crack down on gun smuggling at our border; increase the capacity of law enforcement and prosecutors to investigate gun crimes; and, in collaboration with our partners in the provinces and territories, support the development of new gun and gang violence prevention and intervention initiatives.

We have committed $250 million to support the efforts of municipalities and Indigenous communities to build and deliver anti-gang programming—funding that builds on the almost $360 million provided to provinces and territories under the 2018 Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence to combat gun and gang crime.

This year, the Government of Canada announced an extension and expansion of the program with $390 million over five years through the Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund to provinces and territories for a variety of initiatives, including support for law enforcement and prevention programs.

We continue to work with international partners on trans-national crime, especially with the United States through forums like the North American Leaders Summit and the Cross-Border Crime Forum, and through the Cross Border Firearms Task Force, which helps strengthen inter-agency cooperation to tackle firearms smuggling and trafficking, among other activities.

Mr. Chair, complementing these investments, Bill C-21 has rightly been described as perhaps the strongest firearms legislation any of us will ever see as parliamentarians.

Thanks to so many, the bill before us today is better than the bill the government tabled in May of last year.

Public Safety Canada has initiated dialogue with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations, rural and Northern communities, and with the firearms community across Canada more broadly, to listen to their concerns and learn more about the important traditional and cultural considerations of harvesting and hunting.

The bill now includes a specific provision stating that nothing in the bill derogates from the rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982—further ensuring the bill recognizes and respects the traditional and cultural importance of hunting for Indigenous communities.

The government will continue to seek out the views and perspectives of various Indigenous groups as regulations are developed and as specific measures are implemented.

The amendments also add clarity and protections for responsible gun owners to continue to practice and enjoy what is more than a hobby for them—the experienced, skilled hunters who continue a tradition that in many cases has been part of their family for generations.

Above all, the amendments help to ensure Bill C-21 will be as effective as possible in enhancing the safety of a country that already and consistently ranks among the safest in the world.

As we know, Mr. Chair, handguns represent a significant and growing threat to our safety.

Handguns are the most commonly used firearm in homicides.

The bill will enshrine in legislation the national freeze on handguns which took effect via regulation in October of last year.

The vast majority of individuals will no longer be able to buy or sell or import handguns into Canada.

Maximum penalties for gun traffickers will increase from 10 to 14 years, and new authorities to combat firearms smuggling and related offences will be created.

The amendments include measures to address the growing threat of illegally manufactured firearms—the so-called “ghost guns”—by enacting new offences aimed at the use of 3D printing for the purposes of manufacturing and trafficking of firearms, classifying ghost guns and other illegally made firearms as prohibited, and requiring permits to purchase and import certain firearm parts needed to assemble them.

The bill also includes new measures to address the harms associated with firearms in general.

For example, that suicide by firearm accounted for nearly three-quarters of all firearm-related deaths in Canada between 2000 and 2020…

…And that that victims of intimate partner violence are almost five times more likely to be killed if a firearm is present in the home.

With the support of this committee, the government has brought forward amendments to strengthen measures to address the role of firearms in gender-based violence.

Under Bill C-21, individuals with a restraining order against them—whether the order is current or expired—will not be able to obtain a firearms licence.

New “red flag” laws in the bill will allow courts to order the immediate removal of firearms from individuals who may be a danger to themselves or anyone else.

Measures to protect victims and applicants’ identity and well-being are included in Bill C-21 to allow judges to conduct hearings, considering the reliability of evidence and the individual providing information to the courts.

“Yellow flag” laws will allow Chief Firearms Officers to suspend an individual’s firearms licence if the CFO receives information calling into question their licence eligibility.

Furthermore, with the support of our colleagues in SECU, we adopted amendments that would help protect victims of violence and those at risk of self-harm by a firearm.

Firearms licences would be revoked within 24 hours in cases of domestic or intimate partner violence, and there would be no exemptions for those who use a firearm for their employment.

When a weapons prohibition order or a protection order is issued, this would be reported to authorities within 24 hours.

And, if a person is undergoing a mental health crisis, they would be able to temporarily transfer their firearm to another person or business, helping to keep themselves or their loved ones safe.

Mr. Chair, weapons designed for the battlefield—weapons that fire their deadly projectiles as fast as the operator can pull the trigger—weapons that can inflict catastrophic harm—have no place in our communities.

The bill will codify a prospective technical definition that contains characteristics of an assault-style firearm, which will make it illegal to import or manufacture such firearms in Canada once Bill C-21 comes into force.

This will ensure the Government can be proactive in responding to technological advances in the firearms market—and keep weapons that pose a public safety risk and aren’t reasonable for use in hunting and sporting from entering our communities in the first place.

To complement these measures, regulatory changes will be made which will require a Firearms Reference Table record for all firearms, not just prohibited and restricted firearms, before entering the market in Canada.

These regulatory measures would ensure that no firearm enters the Canadian market unaccounted for or incorrectly classified. 

We will work with retailers, manufacturers, importers, and the firearms community to ensure the Table is up-to-date and a robust tool for law enforcement while ensuring the impact on manufacturers is minimal.

To address the decades-old issue of firearms classification, the Government has committed to re-establishing the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee to independently review the classification of existing firearms.

Finally, to complete the measures against assault-style firearms, we are working to strengthen the regulations for large capacity magazines to require the permanent alteration of long-gun magazines so they can never hold more than five rounds, and to ban the sale of transfer of magazines capable of holding more than the legal number of bullets.

This is not about taking firearms away from responsible owners, hunters, or sport shooters.

Bill C-21 and its amendments represent a common sense, balanced approach to tackling violent crime and preventing senseless, tragic deaths.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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