Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's great to be here.
Thank you, Minister, for being here again. It's great to see you. I appreciate that you're a frequent flyer at this committee.
We are, of course, discussing the very serious issue of gun violence in our cities. On Friday I visited the Winnipeg police headquarters, and they provided me with quite an immersive tour of what they're doing on the ground to combat gang activity. It was incredible. There was half a million dollars' worth of methamphetamines and wads of cash. I've never seen so much in my life. Also, there was a whole table full of the illegal guns that they seized during this large operation. These operations are ongoing. Almost monthly they're seizing this many guns and this much drugs and cash.
All the guns they showed me on the table were already prohibited in Canada, so I'm just not clear. Your government is talking a lot about investing several billion dollars in this so-called “buyback” program and a proposed handgun ban, which you mentioned today.
How is banning certain firearms in Canada going to stop the guns that I saw with my own eyes that are already banned and being used to hurt Canadians right now?