Taxpayers dole out $67M for a gun-grab program that doesn't yet exist

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OTTAWA — Lagging years behind schedule, costs for the federal government’s firearm confiscation program has exceeded $67 million without ever seizing a single gun.

Documents tabled this week in the Senate put combined expenditures for the Liberals’ gun “buy-back” scheme at nearly $67.2 million  — not including millions of dollars spent on outside contractors.

“They spent $67 million so far and haven’t bought back one gun — they haven’t even developed a program,” Sen. Don Plett told The Toronto Sun.

“When I asked the question of government leader (Sen. Marc Gold,) his answer was ‘We have to get it right, so we will keep spending money until we get it right.'”

The documents are responses to an order paper question submitted by Plett, who also noted an additional $11.5 million was paid to outside consultants.

“That’s something this government is quick to do, hire consultant after consultant,” he said.

As of June 19, Public Safety Canada spent $47 million on the program, the documents state, plus $9 million in centrally withheld funds. The RCMP has also spent $11,063,597 on the program.

Phase one began last April following a $700,000 agreement with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association to assist retailers with compensation.  

Preliminary work on the program’s second phase, which involves confiscating legally-purchased firearms from licensed owners, began earlier this year.

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Tracey Wilson, of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR), questioned why the millions weren’t spent tackling root-causes of Canada’s gun crime problem, like smuggling.

“In the response delivered by Senate Leader Gold, he said that the confiscation program is a ‘central part of the government’s plan to combat gun violence,'” she said.

“I’d challenge the senator and the Liberal government to be honest with Canadians — how many licensed owners of these legally acquired firearms are responsible for the massive increase in violence we see in our streets?

Firearms policy expert Tim Thurley said costs are only going higher.

“The released information indicates this money is being spent on program set-up, including developing communications strategies, writing impact assessments, and building and integrating IT platforms,” he said, explaining that costs will spike once the gun grab kicks into high gear.

“The logistics of collecting, transporting, and destroying firearms, program administration, and of course compensation, are all large cost drivers.”

Internal documents from 2019 pegged the total price tag of the gun grab at $2 billion — despite assurances during the 2021 federal election that the program would cost between $400 million and $600 million.

Policy analyst and thegunblog.ca editor Nicolas Johnson said these numbers represent only a portion of the money this program promises to waste.

“It doesn’t include the millions of dollars wasted by politicians and bureaucrats in the provinces, provincial firearm offices or local police,” he said.

“It also leaves out millions of dollars in destroyed personal and family wealth of entrepreneurs who were forced to close their gun stores, and of their employees who were laid off.”

He said the program’s impacts go way beyond the ledger sheet.

“The biggest cost of the Liberal attacks will never make it into the financial statements: the destroyed trust in politicians, police, and government institutions, and the resulting erosion of peace, stability, and safety,” Johnson said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume