COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 21st, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The honourable minister.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Perhaps the member opposite missed our announcement, in which we prohibited weapons that were designed neither for hunting nor for sport shooting but were designed for soldiers for use in combat. They have no place in civil society. Those weapons are now prohibited. I'm looking forward—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Now we'll go back to Mr. Melillo.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

The minister actually admitted earlier in this committee that some of the firearms he has prohibited are used for hunting. I would like to note that the minister often uses terms like “military style” and “assault style”. I'd like to provide the minister some time to define that ambiguous term for us.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

If the member opposite needs any clarity, I'd invite him to go to the order in council and look at the 1,500 models and variants we have now prohibited. They include such weapons as those used at Christchurch, at Sandy Hook, in Montreal at the École Polytechnique and in Quebec at the mosque. They are weapons that have been used for mass murder, and they have no place in our society.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I'm afraid, Mr. Chair, that this does not provide any more clarity for us, but I will move on.

I would like to know if the minister's department has any estimates on how many gangs and criminal organizations are going to comply with this ban.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

We know, Mr. Chair, that many of the people involved in criminal activities get their guns from a number of different locations. That's why we'll be taking very strong steps at the very first opportunity to bring legislation forward to stop guns from being smuggled into the country, to stop them from being stolen from gun owners and to stop them from being criminally diverted. We've made investments in communities and in law enforcement to deal with gun activity—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Melillo.

Mr. Melillo.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

If the minister and his department have the number, can he tell us how many gangs he expects to comply with this ban?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Chair, I fully expect that as a result of the measures that we will take, it will be far more difficult for anyone who wishes to commit a crime with a firearm to gain access to that firearm. As for firearms that have been used to murder innocent civilians and women in this country, they have now been prohibited.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

The Conservative Party has brought forward a number of solutions to combat gun crime. These include stronger mental health supports and crackdowns on illegal gun smuggling. I would like to know if the minister agrees that programs such as those would be more beneficial than his plan?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Let's talk facts, Mr. Chair. In fact, a Conservative government, prior to our being elected, actually cut funding for the RCMP and our border services officers by hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of people and staff, thereby weakening our response to those gangs. For some reason, the Conservatives don't want to talk about guns when we're talking about gun crime.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Does the minister know how much this firearms confiscation plan is going to cost? If so, would he agree that money would be better spent cracking down on gun smuggling?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I'm glad the member mentioned gun smuggling because we invested $86 million in the CBSA and RCMP to conduct investigations at our border for those gangs and individuals responsible for smuggling guns, and the member's party voted against that.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I would like to provide the minister about 30 seconds to elaborate on that plan and tell us how his government has taken action on cracking down on gun smuggling, because many people haven't seen it.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I'd invite the member to maybe drop by one of the hard-working, posted points of entry, where our CBSA officers are doing an extraordinary job and utilizing the new tools, resources and staffing we have provided. We're going to continue to do that by bringing forward new authorities, new offences and new penalties for those people who smuggle guns into this country. I hope the member opposite will finally support—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Melillo, a brief question.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I'd like to know if the minister has any statistics on how many guns are smuggled into Canada each year versus guns that are domestically sourced and used in gun crimes in Canada.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Yes, we do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I'm afraid that's all the time we have for questions today.

This committee stands adjourned.

Good day to everyone.

The meeting is adjourned.