Opening remarks and overview—Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security: Study on gun violence (December 16, 2021)

Minister's opening remarks

Mr. Chair, Committee Members:

Thank you for inviting me here today.

I'd like to begin by acknowledging that those of us here on the Hill are gathered on traditional Algonquin territory.

I want to offer my full support for this important study on gun control, illegal arms trafficking and the increase in gun crimes by gangs.

I welcome this study, and very much look forward to your findings.

Honourable Members, the violent crime we see in our communities ranges from criminal activity, to gender-based violence, or a deliberate attack on innocent people.

All of this is unacceptable in a country like ours.

I am horrified by the tragic loss of young persons in Montréal in recent months.

My thoughts are with those who have lost family members and friends, and with all the residents of Montréal and elsewhere in Canada who have all too often had to face armed violence.

As we meet more often over the coming months, you'll have no doubt that addressing the devastating effects of gun and gang violence remains a top priority for me and for this Government.

In some cities across the country, and indeed in many constituencies, including my own, firearm-related crimes are on the rise.

In 2020, there were 277 firearm-related homicides, accounting for 39% all homicides^{Footnote 1}.

That's why I warmly welcome the attention and initiatives being put in place across the country, including by my counterpart in Quebec to control firearms and address gun violence.

I know that Quebec is taking robust action like Opération Centaure and investments in gang prevention.
That project helps to hire more police officers, forensic scientists, and corrections officers, and bring together law enforcement agencies to investigate and prevent gun violence and reduce smuggling.

Quebec is clearly showing positive provincial leadership.

And I look forward to discussing this and much more at the summit on firearms violence in January in Montreal.

Mr. Chair, our story over the last 6 years reflects the strongest set of measures Canada has ever seen against gun crime.

We have made commitments that the provinces welcome and want to continue.

My counterparts know that being tough on crime is never enough.

That's why our focus on prevention is central to all we do, and it's central to where we're making many of our key investments.

In last year's Fall Economic Statement, we announced $250 million over five years to support gang prevention and intervention programming.

This funding will strengthen local efforts to address the social conditions that lead to criminal behaviour.

The focus will be on keeping at-risk children, youth and young adults out of gangs, and out of the criminal justice system.

Funding will support community organizations that work to address violent criminal activity before it starts, and provide exit strategies for those already involved in gang activity.

It's a targeted approach, building on the success of our Initiative To Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence, which is supporting provinces and territories in responding to their specific needs.

We also promised to introduce additional legislation in keeping with the rest of our commitments on gun and gang violence.

And that's exactly what we did last year with the introduction of the former Bill C-21.

As members will recall, among many other features, that Bill addressed the ways in which criminals get access to guns, through smuggling, theft and diversion.

At its core was the recognition of the need to continue to fight the illegal gun market.

On that front, our intent remains: to increase criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking, and to enhance the capacity of police and border officials to keep illegal firearms and ammunition out of the country.

In the meantime, Mr. Chair, we are not waiting to take further action at our borders.

The Government has already provided $125 million to the RCMP and the CBSA.

This funding is enhancing firearms investigations, and strengthening controls at the border, to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country.

And the results are clear.

As of December 8, the CBSA has made nearly 400 firearms-related seizures, resulting in over 1,000 items seized this year.

The CBSA is also leading a cross-border task force on behalf of the Government of Canada.

This will ensure that law enforcement partners on both sides of the border benefit from shared intelligence, information, and partnerships, so that they can detect and intercept the illegal movement of firearms at the border.

And we are continuing to invest to increase the RCMP's capacity to trace firearms, and to carry out anti-smuggling activities, as they continue to strengthen their ability to support investigations, research, intelligence, training and much more.

Further, Mr. Chair, on May 1st, 2020, this Government took a bold step forward and kept our promise, by banning over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms.

All members know that these firearms are designed specifically to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

They have no place in our society.

These types of firearms were not meant for hunters or sport-shooters.

We will take further action to remove these guns from our communities, by making it mandatory for owners to deactivate or surrender these firearms.

They pose a risk to the public's safety that outweighs their continued availability within Canada.

Mr. Chair, members will recall these steps had been preceded by many concrete actions to change our laws to protect public safety.

In 2019, we passed legislation – the former Bill C-71 – to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, including by expanding background checks.

I'm pleased to report that, following that legislation, on July 7, the Government registered an Order-in-Council to expand those background checks for a firearms licence.

Now, the checks will review an applicant's entire life history, rather than just the previous five years.

The lifetime background check includes criteria that must be considered, in deciding whether to grant a firearms licence.

That includes a history of harassment, whether the applicant was ever subject to a restraining order, and whether the applicant poses a risk of harm to any person.

Further, on the same date, we reinstated the Chief Firearms Officer's discretionary power to authorize the transport of restricted and prohibited firearms to all places other than a shooting range or home after purchase such as to and from a gun show.

I'm confident this step will help to safeguard the movement of these firearms within the community.

We will also bring into force at the earliest opportunity two regulations under C-71.

This proposal will require a vendor of a non-restricted firearm to verify the potential recipient's firearms licence with the Registrar of Firearms.

That same regulatory proposal would also require businesses to maintain inventory and sales records for non-restricted firearms.

Mr. Chair, these regulations have been referred to your committee for study.

I would welcome an opportunity to appear to discuss how the regulations will ensure firearms do not end up in the hands of criminals, and enable better tracing of crime guns.

Mr. Chair, I very much look forward to working with members as we re-table legislation for further debate on all of these issues.

That includes those raised by the measures we introduced as part of Bill C-21, such as our commitment to support those communities who want to ban handguns.

The Government remains committed to collaborating with provinces that want to do so.
It's a fact that handguns are used in about half of all firearms-related homicides.

Quebec, Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, have all called for the federal government to withdraw the handgun provisions of C-21, arguing that municipalities should not be burdened with firearms regulatory enforcement.

In fact, Mr. Chair, all three levels of government currently regulate firearms, as it is an area of shared jurisdiction under the Constitution.

Today, there are provincial laws and municipal bylaws governing firearms right across the country, and we need to see more of those responses tailored to individual jurisdictions' needs.

We can always do more together.

Mr. Chair, as I've outlined today, the Government has introduced the strongest measures to fight gun violence our country has ever seen.

Our approach to combat firearm-related violence has focused on controlling the use and possession of firearms, limiting access to firearms deemed inappropriate, deterring smuggling and trafficking, and supporting communities in efforts to reduce gang membership and violence.

This is about saving lives.

We are not targeting responsible citizens.

These are concrete and practical measures.

And they're designed to protect you, your family and your community.

As I've said, in concert with all jurisdictions, there is always more we can do together.

I call on all provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous communities to continue to join the Government of Canada in taking action to stamp out gun violence.
They can do so by passing laws and bylaws to control access to firearms, by increasing enforcement, and by supporting prevention programs.

Quebequers, and indeed all Canadians, who want to take strong action to make their communities safe, will have an ally in me and this Government.

I'm confident that our collective actions and continued investments in our communities will improve public safety, prevent tragedies and save lives.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions today.

Scenario note

Issue

On December 7, 2021, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion put forth by Bloc Québécois MP Kristina Michaud, which instructed SECU to undertake a study on gun violence and gun control. SECU met on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, to discuss MP Michaud's motion. A number of proposed sub-amendments were debated from and the final motion as amended was carried as follows:

That in addition to the meeting already scheduled by the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on December 16, 2021, to hear from the Minister of Public Safety and from Departmental officials, the Committee:

1. invite representatives from the Canada Border Services Agency and union representatives of the Agency's employees and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to appear for a period of three hours and that this meeting be held no later than February 4, 2022
2. include in this study the following urgent issues in relations to firearms:
   1. all the ways that firearms are illegally diverted including smuggling across the United States border and domestic diversion
   2. the increasing involvement of gangs in firearms, the review of the programs that address the causes of youth gang involvement, programs that prevent recruitment and retention, the causes of high recidivism rates and programs that promote diversion
3. plan additional meetings to hear from witnesses based on suggestions from the various parties on the Committee, with the understanding that they will provide their suggestions to the Clerk of the Committee no later than Friday, January 14, 2022 at 4:00 pm
4. complete witness testimony no later than February 18, 2022 at which point the Committee will draft and complete a report to be tabled in the House no later than March 31, 2022

Since the opening of Parliament in November, members of the BQ have raised their concerns about the increase of fatal shootings in Montreal and its surrounding metropolitan. They have repeatedly called on the Government to take stronger action on preventing gun violence, specifically calling on the Government to focus their efforts on firearms smuggling and trafficking at the border. The sole SECU member of the BQ is Kristina Michaud, who is also the originator of the motion that prompted this study. MP Michaud has largely expressed her desire to speak with the RCMP on this issue and has raised this issue and how it affects her home province of Quebec. A list of recent questions posed during Question Period from MP Michaud can be found in the Questions and answers section.

General information

Date: Thursday, December 16, 2021
Time: From 11:00 am to 12:00 pm (with the Minister) and from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm (without the Minister, with VP support)
Location: Room 415, Wellington Building, 197 Sparks Street
Mode: Hybrid – the Minister is likely to appear in person. The RCMP in person with officials appearing virtually.

Appearing:

The Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety

Public Safety Canada

• Rob Stewart, Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada
• PS Officials

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

• Brenda Lucki, Commissioner of the RCMP
• RCMP Officials

Canada Border Services Agency

• John Ossowski, President of the CBSA
• Scott Harris, Vice-President, Intelligence and Enforcement Branch

SECU Members:

• Liberal Party of Canada (LPC)
  • The Honourable Jim Carr, Chair
  • Paul Chiang
  • Pam Damoff, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
  • Ron McKinnon
  • Taleeb Noormohamed
  • Sameer Zuberi
• Conservative Party of Canada (CPC)
  • Raquel Dancho
  • Dane Lloyd
  • Doug Shipley
  • Tako Van Popta
• Bloc Québecois (BQ)
  • Kristina Michaud
• New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP)
  • Alistair MacGregor

Opening remarks

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair will invite the Minister to deliver his opening remarks, which will be followed by questions from Committee members to all officials. At this time, it is expected that only the Minister will be providing opening remarks.

Rounds of questioning

At the Chair's discretion, questions from committee members will proceed as follows:

• First round: 6 minutes for each party in the following order: CPC, LPC, BQ, NDP
• For the second and subsequent rounds: CPC, 5 minutes; LPC, 5 minutes; BQ 2.5 minutes and NDP 2.5 minutes; CPC, 5 minutes; LPC, 5 minutes

Placemat: Statistics and investments

Seizures

• Firearms Seizures in 2021 (as of December 8, 2021): 386 seizures, 1,048 items
• Total seizures in 2020: 291 seizures, 495 items
• Average yearly seizure (2016 to 2020): 436 seizures, 656 items

Investigations

• Since January 1, 2020, the CBSA has opened 112 criminal investigations into firearms issues. Many investigations are ongoing or charges are still before the courts, however, the CBSA has laid charges in 53 cases involving firearms. During this same period, courts have imposed guilty convictions in 29 cases
• From January 1, 2020, to November 30, 2021, 5 criminal investigations were opened by the CBSA in the Quebec Region. These numbers include cases where the CBSA had a significant investigative role, and do not include cases where the CBSA would have referred the case/information to policing partners which may have resulted in subsequent investigations led by those agencies

Investments: Off-cycle funding received pre- and post-Budget 2018

Taking action against guns and gangs

• $327.6 million over five years, starting in 2018 to 2019, and $100 million per year ongoing, to Public Safety Canada, the RCMP and the CBSA to establish the Initiative to Take Action Against Guns and Gangs
• Of this amount, the CBSA was provided $79.7 million over 5 years with $7.5 million ongoing

Budget 2021 firearms (PS lead)

• $312 million over five years, starting in 2021 to 2022, and $41.4 million ongoing, to implement legislation to help protect Canadians from gun violence and to fight gun smuggling and trafficking
• Of this amount, the CBSA received $41.4 million over six years and $6.8 million ongoing

Placemat: Key messages

1. Cross-Border Firearms Taskforce

• Canada and the U.S. have formed the Canada-United States Cross Border Firearms Task Force to tackle the threat posed by smuggled firearms, firearms parts, and devices prohibited from export or import, as well as to target the organized crime networks and the activity enabling this movement
• The Task Force is led in Canada by the CBSA and supported by the RCMP. It includes the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

[Redacted]

• [Redacted]
• [Redacted]

3. Seizures

• Firearms and weapons are high-risk commodities and their interdiction is a CBSA enforcement priority. The CBSA seizes undeclared or improperly declared restricted or prohibited firearms with no terms of release

4. Investigations

• The CBSA does not disclose details of specific targeting, execution, intelligence and investigation techniques as this may render them ineffective
• The CBSA's intelligence and enforcement units review data and intelligence collected by the CBSA or shared by partners, including firearms seizures, to determine trends, modus operandi, smuggling routes, and potential entities involved in illicit activity

Questions and answers

1. In Montreal, you have heard how bad it is getting. Obviously guns are still making it through the border. What else can you do to make this stop?

• The CBSA's Quebec Region has formed a Weapons Smuggling Integrated Enforcement Team consisting of CBSA intelligence and criminal investigations personnel to combat weapons smuggling into Canada
• The CBSA's Quebec Region works closely with various law enforcement partners across the province, such as the Sûreté du Québec Guns and Gangs Unit, to further investigations into illegal cross-border firearms movements. Many of these cases remain under active investigation by the CBSA and partner law enforcement agencies
• For example, the February 2021, arrest by the RCMP, of a resident of l'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, along with the seizure of homemade bombs, firearms, silencers, magazines, volumes of ammunition and prohibited weapons resulted from an initial CBSA intercept and seizure of a prohibited silencer being illegally imported into Canada
• In addition to this, the CBSA sits on many national committees with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, and is part of numerous joint-forces operations across the country related to organized crime and firearms specifically. This collaboration allows us to truly understand and combat the nature of firearms smuggling, trafficking and use
• We have several examples of firearms or parts intercepted in British Columbia at the border, that were ultimately destined to Quebec, Manitoba or Ontario for use. Collaborating with the RCMP, local police and provincial crowns, allowed for the successful interception and investigation into the parties involved, and ultimately kept those and other firearms off the streets

2. There is an increase in gun violence across the country. Tell me, how many of those guns that were used to commit crimes have you missed when they crossed our border?

• I will defer to my colleagues at the RCMP for information related to domestic firearms investigations
• What I can say, though, is that we work very closely with our police partners across the country to ensure we get the intelligence and data from domestic seizures so that we can use that to identify routings, methods, and any gaps or vulnerabilities at the border, should a firearm be determined to have originated from outside Canada
• We then use this to ensure we can combat organized crime exploiting the border, by identifying new trends
• One particular trend is related to replica firearms. Ontario Provincial Police has reported finding replica firearms, that have been converted into real firearms, during the execution of their criminal warrants
• Since April 2020, the CBSA has seized almost 4000 replica firearms through our Firearms Interdiction Team in the Greater Toronto Area
• [Redacted]

3. I see there is an increase in weapons seized from year to year. What do you make of that? In your opinion, is it an increase in criminal activities at the border? Or are you just getting better at catching them?

• Firearms and weapons are different than a commodity like narcotics. Illicit narcotics are replenished frequently through the criminal networks, because they can only be used once. Firearms and other weapons, however, can be used multiple times and over a long period of time
• Therefore, there is no easy correlation between firearms and weapons seized at the border and the firearms or weapons that originated from outside of Canada and were used in the recent commission of a crime.
• What is important, however, is for us to continue working with our partners to understand which weapons were used in crimes, and learn from those investigations to stop any other illicit weapons entering the country illegally

4. Is the CBSA willing to work with provinces and territories to address gun smuggling?

• Absolutely. The CBSA is already a part of at least 13 joint forces operations at the municipal and provincial levels directly related to firearms and weapons, and even more task forces that involve organized crime and smuggling more generally
• If there is a provincial or territorial initiative with a border angle, the CBSA will certainly look at how it can participate and contribute
• The Cross-Border Firearms Task Force signed an MOU at the national level, with federal agencies from Canada and the United States. But the work it is doing is meant to enable local operations and investigations through collaboration, breaking down barriers, and identifying gaps
• [Redacted]
• [Redacted]

5. What is the CBSA doing to determine origin of guns

• The CBSA is already a part of a few initiatives to trace back firearms seized by the CBSA. In Ontario, for instance, the CBSA has been a part of the OPP's Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit for years, which works directly with ATF to determine firearms origin. In Western Canada, our Regions work closely with the RCMP on tracing efforts
• We have also just launched an initiative through the CBSA's National Firearms Intelligence Desk to ensure that all firearms seized by the CBSA across the country are traced, and that data is used in our analysis. We are in the preliminary stages of this initiative but have already started discussions with the right partners
• [Redacted]

6. What is the CBSA doing to address gun smuggling between ports of entry?

• The illicit flow of guns across the border is a shared responsibility between federal law enforcement partners on both sides of the border. While CBSA has the mandate for enforcement at the ports of entry and the RCMP has the mandate for enforcement along the remainder of the border, our teams work hand in hand to identify, interdict and prosecute those involved in firearms smuggling. Often, firearms offences under the Customs Act are also offenses under the Criminal Code, and would therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the RCMP
• The CBSA does not have a mandate to investigate organized crime or gang activity per se, except as they relate to the application of the Customs Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Since a significant proportion of activity involving crime guns involves organized crime or gangs, the CBSA must maintain and continue to increase its knowledge and understanding of this kind of criminality through intelligence collection, analysis, training and partnerships
• In order to understand the overall threat and ensure that the CBSA has the elements it needs to identify, disrupt, interdict, and enforce gun smuggling activities, it must also ensure that it collaborates with its various law enforcement partners to share intelligence, build a shared threat picture, and conduct joint operations, as appropriate

Seizures of firearms at the border

Key message

• The CBSA ensures compliance with existing laws, regulations and orders, including the Customs Act, Firearms Act, and the Criminal Code. Firearms and weapons are high-risk commodities and their interdiction is a CBSA enforcement priority
• The CBSA maintains strong working relationships with both Canadian and U.S. partners, including the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and various Canadian police forces
• Travellers who do not declare firearms upon arrival can face prosecution; the firearms and the vehicle used to carry them may be seized
• The CBSA does not disclose details of specific targeting, execution, intelligence and investigation techniques as this may render them ineffective

Firearm seizures: Statistics

Firearm seizures

• Firearms Seizures in 2021 (as of December 8, 2021): 386 seizures, 1,048 items
• Total seizures in 2020: 291 seizures, 495 items
• Average yearly seizure (2016 to 2020): 436 seizures, 656 items

Source: ICES; Pulled by Commercial DARE; December 15, 2021

Criminal investigations

Since January 1, 2020, the Agency has opened 112 criminal investigations into firearms issues. Many investigations are ongoing or charges are still before the courts, however, the CBSA has laid charges in 53 cases involving firearms. During this same period, courts have imposed guilty convictions in 29 cases.

From January 1, 2020, to November 30, 2021, 5 criminal investigations were opened by the CBSA in the Quebec Region. These numbers include cases where the CBSA had a significant investigative role, and do not include cases where the CBSA would have referred the case/information to policing partners which may have resulted in subsequent investigations led by those agencies.

From January 1, 2020, to November 30, 2021, Criminal Investigations opened a total of 654 leads involving firearms. Out of these leads, Criminal investigations was able to further action 368 (56%) by either opening an associated project or criminal case or referring the lead to one of our partners.

Investments related to firearms implicating the CBSA
(October 2015 to present)

Key message

The Government provided the CBSA with $79.7 million over 5 years and $7.5 million ongoing to establish the initiative to Take Action Against Guns and Gangs. These investments have created real results. In 2019 to 2020, the CBSA's Drugs and Firearms detector dog teams seized 74 firearms, 42 magazines, and 22 prohibited weapons. Even with significantly fewer passengers due to COVID border closures in 2020 to 2021, the CBSA seized 59 firearms, 21 magazines, and 12 prohibited weapons. And to be clear, this is only part of the effort which resulted in over 1000 firearms seized by the CBSA this year.

Off-cycle funding received pre- and post-Budget 2018

1. Taking Action Against Guns and Gangs. The Government provided $327.6 million over five years, starting in 2018 to 2019, and $100 million per year ongoing, to Public Safety Canada, the RCMP and the CBSA to establish the Initiative to Take Action Against Guns and Gangs—a multi-pronged approach to tackle gun and gang activity in Canada intended to bring together federal, provincial and territorial efforts to support community-level prevention and enforcement efforts, build and leverage unique federal expertise and resources to advance intelligence related to the illegal trafficking of firearms, and invest in border security to interdict illicit goods including guns and drugs. Funding was also provided to Indigenous organizations to help build capacity through education, outreach and research, addressing the unique needs of Indigenous communities and urban populations. Of this amount, the CBSA was provided $79.7 million over 5 years with $7.5 million ongoing.

Taking Action Against Guns and Gangs

Initiative 1: Illicit Guns in Postal Facilities
Results achieved:

• Six new X-ray machines were purchased and five have been deployed to [Redacted] mail processing facilities
• The investment in Dual View X-ray technology allows the Agency to process all mail in a consistent, efficient, and non-intrusive manner
• [Redacted]

Initiative 2: Detector Dog Teams (DDTs)
Results achieved:

• DDTs were trained and deployed in 2019. In 2019 to 2020, the DDTs seized 74 firearms, 42 magazines, and 22 prohibited weapons. Even with significantly fewer passengers due to COVID border closures in 2020 to 2021, the CBSA DDTs seized 59 firearms, 21 magazines, and 12 prohibited weapons
• The teams continue to be fully functional and are operating as expected
• Work will continue to be undertaken by the five trained firearms detector dog teams at select ports of entry

Initiative 3: Construction and Maintenance of an All-Weather Facility
Results achieved:

• The All Weather Facility is currently in the final phase of its construction and is currently scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2022
• When operational, the facility will provide a year-round training centre with agility course and airport simulations for Detector Dog Teams

Initiative 4: [Redacted]
Results achieved:

[Redacted]

Initiative 5: Advanced Vehicle Concealment Techniques Course
Results achieved:

• Ongoing personnel, operations, and maintenance funding for the newly developed national training product to train in the identification and interdiction of crime guns and weapons for the CBSA officers
• The training of officers was temporary halted due to COVID-19 protocols, but is expected to continue in the spring of 2022

Initiative 6: Air Cargo Security
Results achieved:

• Expand use of hand-held and pallet-sized X-ray technology and deployment of Contraband (tool) Outfitted Mobile Examination Trucks (COMETs) into the Air mode at select major airports
• Currently all handheld and postal X-ray equipment has been purchased and is operational. The 14 COMETS along with the detection technology tool kits have all been purchased and are operational
• CBSA is currently in the process of securing a vendor through an Request For Proposal process for the purchase of Pallet Large Scale Imaging equipment to be implemented at the airports

Budget 2021

1. Firearms (PS-lead): The budget provided $312 million over five years, starting in 2021 to 2022, and $41.4 million ongoing, to implement legislation to help protect Canadians from gun violence and to fight gun smuggling and trafficking. For this initiative, the CBSA received $41.4 million over six years and $6.8 million ongoing to, among various other things, enhance its intelligence and investigative and information-sharing capacity.

[Redacted]

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[Redacted]: [Redacted]
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[Redacted]

[Redacted]: [Redacted]
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Questions from the House of Commons

Since the opening of Parliament in November, members of the Bloc Québécois (BQ) have raised their concerns about the increase of fatal shootings in Montreal and its surrounding metropolitan area.

They have repeatedly called on the Government to take stronger action on preventing gun violence, specifically calling on the Government to focus their efforts on firearms smuggling and trafficking at the border.

The sole SECU member of the BQ is Kristina Michaud, who is also the originator of the motion that prompted this study. MP Michaud has largely expressed her desire to speak with the RCMP on this issue and has raised this issue and how it affects her home province of Quebec. Based on a parliamentary scan, below is a list of recent questions posed during Question Period from MP Michaud. A media scan confirms that these questions also came up in recent media articles.

House of Commons

1. We are even hearing this from customs officers. The president of their union said, and I quote: "Whether it be our detector dogs, our intelligence officers, our methods for combatting concealed weapons and so on, all this expertise is not being used between border crossings." There are ways to address this; solutions do exist. Expertise could be solicited and better used. When will the minister do just that and tighten border controls?

• The CBSA is responsible for enforcing Canadian legislation at designated ports of entry in Canada, and the interdiction of undeclared or improperly imported firearms and firearms parts, and other weapons, is an Agency priority
• As identified in the CBSA's Firearms Strategy, the threat is complex and must be countered using an integrated approach with police and other law enforcement partners, domestically and abroad
• The Agency regularly engages in joint investigations with policing partners, including the RCMP and provincial police such as the Sureté du Quebec and Ontario Provincial Police, as well as local policing agencies to combat firearms smuggling
• We also works closely and regularly shares relevant information on border and national security issues, under strict legal parameters, with its local, national and international law enforcement partners, and other government departments in Canada, to ensure the health, safety and security of all our communities
• Border services officers are aided by intelligence and trained in examination and investigative techniques. They stay on top of current global trends to understand indicators of risk
• Through follow-up investigations often resulting from initial border intercepts, our law enforcement officials in Quebec and across the country have removed significant numbers of firearms and other weapons from our communities and brought numerous individuals before the courts to face criminal charges under the Criminal Code in addition to the Customs Act

2. The minister cannot tell us that his government is doing everything it can to crack down on firearms trafficking at the border, just as I have never said that it is not doing anything. The reality is that his government needs to do more. He can count on our support, because this is not a partisan issue; it is a public safety issue. What is stopping him from accepting our proposal to create a joint task force to combat firearms trafficking at the border?

• If there is a provincial or territorial initiative with a border angle, the CBSA will certainly look at how it can participate and contribute
• The CBSA is already a part of at least 13 joint forces operations at the municipal and provincial levels directly related to firearms and weapons, and even more task forces that involve organized crime and smuggling more generally. The CBSA is fully involved in Opération Centaure, a Quebec Government initiative that includes many other law enforcement partners
• Additionally, the CBSA's Quebec Region has formed a Weapons Smuggling Integrated Enforcement Team consisting of CBSA intelligence and criminal investigations personnel to combat weapons smuggling into Canada
• The CBSA's Quebec Region works closely with various law enforcement partners across the province, such as the Sûreté du Québec Guns and Gangs Unit, to further investigations into illegal cross-border firearms movements. Many of these cases remain under active investigation by the CBSA and partner law enforcement agencies

3. Mr. Speaker, the mayor of Montreal met with the Prime Minister this morning. Again, she implored him to tighten the borders to deal with firearms trafficking. This is not the first time Valérie Plante has asked the Prime Minister to close the borders. Last time, it was to prevent COVID-19 from entering Quebec. In the end, she had to do the federal government's job for it and deploy City of Montreal resources to screen travellers at the airports.

The most important thing the federal government can do is combat gun trafficking at the border. The guns used in the tragedies that occurred in Montreal were illegal. It is already against the law to possess them, much less sell them, yet they are found in our neighbourhoods. Montreal and Quebec can deploy all the resources they have, but if the federal government does not do its part, guns will continue to find their way onto our streets. Will the government finally commit to doing everything it can at the border to stem firearms trafficking?

• When leaders from Canada and the United States last met in February 2021 and unveiled the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership, both countries committed to re-establishing the Cross-Border Crime Forum to tackle challenges such as the illegal cross-border flow of firearms
• In support of this common objective, Canada and the U.S. have formed the Canada-United States Cross Border Firearms Task Force. The mandate of this task force is to tackle illegal movement of firearms through cross-border travel and trade, while ensuring that the movement of essential workers and goods continues unimpeded
• In 2021, the CBSA National Firearms Intelligence Desk (NFID) was established. This desk brings together all CBSA partners working to combat firearms smuggling in order to maintain a real-time national border-focused threat picture of illicit firearms in Canada and their movements across our borders
• Additionally, the CBSA's National Targeting Centre continues to work very closely with CBSA Offices across the country as well as with our Border Five partners to identify firearms and related prohibited parts destined for Canada

4. Quebec City and the mayor of Montreal have asked the federal government to tighten the borders against firearms trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the Quebec minister of public security, who said, "Guns do not just magically end up in Quebec. They come across our borders, which are the federal government's responsibility."

• The illicit flow of guns across the border is a shared responsibility between federal law enforcement partners on both sides of the border. While CBSA has the mandate for enforcement at the ports of entry and the RCMP has the mandate for enforcement along the remainder of the border, our teams work hand in hand to identify, interdict and prosecute those involved in firearms smuggling. Often, firearms offences under the Customs Act are also offenses under the Criminal Code, and would therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the RCMP
• The CBSA does not have a mandate to investigate organized crime or gang activity per se, except as they relate to the application of the Customs Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Since a significant proportion of activity involving crime guns involves organized crime or gangs, the CBSA must maintain and continue to increase its knowledge and understanding of this kind of criminality through intelligence collection, analysis, training and partnerships
• In order to understand the overall threat and ensure that the CBSA has the elements it needs to identify, disrupt, interdict, and enforce gun smuggling activities, it must also ensure that it collaborates with its various law enforcement partners to share intelligence, build a shared threat picture, and conduct joint operations, as appropriate

Standing Committee on Official Languages (March 25, 2021)

1. Regarding the use of both official languages: the CBSA has been the subject of complaints in the past… are you confident your officers are providing Canadians the bilingual service they deserve, and to which they are entitled?

• The CBSA takes its Official Languages obligations seriously — whether dealing with external clients or with its own employees — and is committed to offering travellers services of equal quality in the official language of their choice at all ports of entry designated as bilingual
• At our ports of entry, services, signage and information material are provided according to the Official Languages rules for that region and where there is a significant demand from the official language minority communities
• Should a situation arise where a language barrier exists, the CBSA officer handling the situation will either switch languages, ask another officer who speaks the language to engage, or contact an interpreter
• The CBSA considers that it has consistently provided service of equal quality when travellers arrive at a bilingual port of entry and the following occurs:
  • every traveller is greeted in the official language of their choice
  • every traveller is served by an officer with the required language skills
  • every traveller receives all documentation in the official language of their choice