Public Safety Committee on May 11th, 2023

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Well, he did sign the supply—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Excuse me, the chair has the floor.

I urge you to maintain your discourse in a respectful manner. Carry on.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I'm sorry; I thought that was his official title.

I think, when you go through clause-by-clause, to Madame Michaud's point, members of Parliament have a right to ask questions about particular elements. It's not repetitive when you're asking about different clauses. You may not like the fact that parliamentarians—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

I think we're going into debate now, Mr. Perkins. The point of order is closed.

Mr. Tochor, do you have a new point of order or is it the same point of order?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Chair, it's relevant to it.

The officials had to pause and talk among themselves to figure out the proper answer to the question, so it can't be repetitive if the witnesses don't even know. It refers to the act, and their answer was that it refers to the act, but in that clause, there's no reference to the act. We've highlighted—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

I think we have information. I think we're getting into an argument. No more. This point of order is over.

We have a new point of order from Mr. Shipley.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a couple of quick things. First of all, many times in this committee, Chair, you have mentioned that you don't want us to go back and discuss things in the past, that we need to keep working forward. You've said that to us many times.

My friend down the end here just mentioned votes that took place earlier, and he was allowed to mention things that happened in the past. I believe that Standing Order 18 prohibits reflecting on the decisions of the House.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

That's correct. It's a valid point. I encourage us all to maintain a forward perspective on this. Thank you.

That being the case, we are on clause 32.

I believe Mr. Shipley was speaking to clause 32.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

I hate to do this to Ms. Michaud, but I wasn't here earlier. I agree that there was some delay. I need to know. I want to know what the difference is between the commissioner of firearms and the chief firearms officers for a province. How do they differ? That is where we left off last time.

Officials, could you give me those details?

[Rachel Mainville-Dale]

If we refer to section 2 of the Firearms Act, a chief firearms officer is defined, and the commissioner means the commissioner of firearms appointed under section 81.1. Currently the commissioner of firearms is the commissioner of the RCMP.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

That's the commissioner of firearms. How are the provincial chief firearms officers appointed? Who appoints them? Are they appointed?

[Rob Mackinnon]

In accordance with section 2 of the Firearms Act, a chief firearms officer is designated by a provincial minister. If the provincial minister chooses not to designate, the federal minister will designate a chief firearms officer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Tochor, do you have your hand up?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Yes, I'd like a clarification on the commissioner and the order of appointments.

Does the federal government fund all the offices in the same way, then, each commissioner? How is that funding determined? It's the minister who appoints the provincial one, but who funds it? Is it both, or just the federal?

[Kellie Paquette]

There's only one commissioner of firearms, but if you're referring to the chief firearms officers of each province, it depends on whether they're provincially or federally appointed, designated. If they are provincially designated, there are contribution agreements that are drafted and signed off on by the minister of the province and the federal minister. They come to an agreement on funding to administer the Firearms Act.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

“Refers to the December 1998 handgun” is cut off my version. This is when they transferred to restricted firearms and guns.

[Phaedra Glushek]

That's correct. That was through Bill C-68.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

That was to address rising crime rates with handguns, I believe. This was before I got here.

[Phaedra Glushek]

It was to create a licensing regime in the Firearms Act and do some transfers of responsibility between the firearms program and the criminal law policy sector.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Was that the creation of the RPAL?

[Phaedra Glushek]

Bill C-68, I believe, was when the categories changed. There was grandfathering at the time—in subclause 12(6), I believe.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Since 1998, they—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Tochor, your time is up.

Ms. Damoff, please.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

No, I didn't have anything further.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Is there any further discussion on clause 32?