Public Safety committee  To be fair, I'm here to talk about Bill C-21, so I'm personally not in a position to talk about the buyback, but—

Public Safety committee  As mentioned earlier, all guns are subject to risk—

Public Safety committee  I think Madame Paquette is asking me to answer that question, because this is more of a policy question than an operational one. It's no different right now from what it will be when there's a revocation of a firearm, and I think Madame Paquette could speak to the process itself with regard to how we're going to proceed with that.

Public Safety committee  The government has options, and I think it was done in the OIC of May 2020, in which an amnesty order was provided as well. I'm not in a position to tell you what the government will do, but what I'm saying is that what we saw in the past is what happened to avoid a situation of people becoming, from one day to the next, criminals for owning a handgun that they owned legally before.

Public Safety committee  I heard your question earlier. It is the intent of the legislation to allow the current owner to keep their airsoft guns. I'm going to turn it over to Kellie, who is responsible for the CFO part.

Public Safety committee  As I mentioned earlier, there were consultations with the Library of Parliament. I would have to get back to you to confirm. I can confirm that the intent of the legislation, as mentioned in the document provided at the tech briefing, is to allow them, but I will have to discuss it with some colleagues and get back to the committee with a clear answer.

Public Safety committee  As I mentioned earlier, we are getting a lot of correspondence, and we're looking at international best practices and seeking advice from everybody to formulate options for the minister. I can't say to the committee what the final decision will be, but I can reassure you that we are doing this work right now.

Public Safety committee  Because this will be part of the regulations, we're working right now with Sport Canada to clarify exactly who will be allowed and to describe it in the regulation. What we're doing right now is gathering the numbers of who they are and at what level. We're working out what implications provinces and territories will have with letters of recommendation or how the process will unfold for our colleagues in the RCMP to allow these people to be owners of handguns.

Public Safety committee  If I'm not mistaken, the provision in question will come into force once the bill receives royal assent. So we won't have a choice. It will have to be ready.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. As an official, I can't tell you what the government will decide to do. However, that question was addressed in your committee's report. We've read it and are studying it very closely. My team, my colleagues and I look at every firearm that presents a public safety risk.

Public Safety committee  The proposal is that businesses will continue to have the authority to own the handguns, and it is one of the things that we are discussing right now to see how this could.... There are comments we're hearing about elite sport shooters, and I earlier heard a question about that as well.

Public Safety committee  In a business, yes.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for that question. I'd like to clarify something here. Bill C‑21 proposes a standard for airsofts that can fire a projectile at an initial velocity of 366 to 500 feet per second and that are replicas. The act already provides that it's prohibited to use other airsoft models that are replica guns.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. I have to admit that, like the minister, I also get a lot of letters and requests for meetings. However, we've started the consultations. We're basing our analysis on international examples. England, in particular, has a good system that seems to work.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. Yes, I can confirm that towing was a problem and that it was not limited to Ottawa. In our discussions with our colleagues across the country, that was regularly brought to our attention during the blockades. Not only were tow trucks unavailable, but operators also refused to come to tow away the trucks.