Parliamentary Committee Notes: Curbing Firearms Smuggling and Trafficking
Date: August 2023
Classification: Unclassified
Branch / Agency: CPB
Proposed Response:
- Tackling firearms trafficking and smuggling into Canada is essential to curb the supply of illegal guns used in crime.
- Bill C-21 would increase the maximum penalties for firearms trafficking, smuggling and related offences from 10 to 14 years imprisonment.
- The Bill will strengthen border security by requiring that an individual present a valid firearms licence in order to import non-prohibited ammunition for firearms, cartridge magazines, and prescribed firearms parts, as well as transfer policy responsibility for inadmissibility on the basis of the commission of a prescribed offence at the border to the Minister of Public Safety, to better align related ministerial responsibilities.
- Changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act will ensure that foreign nationals who are inadmissible to Canada based on having committed certain prescribed offences at the border, including firearms offences, would be subject to admissibility hearings and removal, as appropriate.
- Illegal guns also come from domestic straw purchasing which occurs when a licenced individual purchases firearms or firearm parts for transfer to unlicenced persons. The Bill would authorize the Canadian Firearms Program to disclose information to police if there are reasonable grounds to suspect an individual of straw purchasing.
- These measures, once enacted, would complement existing investments to detect and disrupt gun smuggling through increased intelligence, investigations and enforcement.
- This includes technology used by the RCMP and CBSA to strengthen the detection of illegal firearms at ports of entry
- These investments and efforts have been valuable. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the CBSA seized more than 1,200 firearms. Most recently, in June 2023, the CBSA seized 53 prohibited devices and 6 undeclared firearms at the Carway port of entry in Alberta.
- Further, investments are helping us increase the RCMP Canadian National Firearms Tracing Centre capacity to trace firearms and identify the movement of illegal firearms flowing into and within Canada, develop a new national tracing database and establish a national network to detect straw purchasing, and promote information sharing between law enforcement partners to counter firearms trafficking and smuggling.
- Public Safety, the RCMP and the CBSA continue to work actively with U.S. counterparts through the Cross-Border Firearms Taskforce to share intelligence, co-ordinate investigations and leverage new technologies, in order to detect and disrupt firearms smuggling across our shared border.
Background:
Increase in Penalties for Firearms Trafficking and Smuggling
Bill C-21 would increase maximum penalties under the Criminal Code for firearms smuggling and trafficking in sections 99, 100, and 103 from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment. While current sentences of imprisonment for firearms trafficking range from 2 to 10 years (with an average sentence of 8 years), and 3 to 4 years for firearms smuggling, an increase to a maximum penalty for these offences would send a message to potential criminals and the courts that Parliament unequivocally denounces these crimes. Increasing to 14 years (the highest available before life) signals that Parliament considers these to be among the most serious offences that cause or threaten to cause the greatest harm. The Bill would also increase the maximum penalties for sections 95 (possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm) and 96 (possession of a weapon obtained by the commission of an offence) from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment.
A provision which establishes a high maximum penalty still permits the sentencing judge to tailor the sentence to the gravity or seriousness of the offence and the offender, with due consideration for the offender’s personal circumstances and any aggravating or mitigating factors.
Strengthening the Admissibility Framework at the Border
Currently under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has exclusive policy responsibility for inadmissibility due to the commission of criminal offences at ports of entry at the time of entry to Canada (trans-border criminality), while the Minister of Public Safety has exclusive policy responsibility for examinations at ports of entry, and for inadmissibility on other serious grounds of security, human rights violations, and organized criminality.
Transferring policy responsibility for trans-border criminality to the Minister of Public Safety would allow the CBSA to further advance mandate letter commitments of the Minister of Public Safety, including strengthening Canada’s posture with respect to the smuggling of opioids and firearms and other criminal offences upon entry to Canada, and modernizing processes at ports of entry. The proposed approach would address fragmentation of policy responsibility and ensure greater coherence with respect to immigration enforcement and inadmissibility policies that are applicable exclusively at Canada’s borders.
Disclosure of Information
These measures are principally aimed at combatting suspected straw purchasing by sharing information about bulk purchases. The Bill would authorize the Commissioner of Firearms, the Registrar and Chief Firearms Officers to disclose specified personal information to law enforcement agencies if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual is using, or has used, a past or current licence to purchase firearms for the purpose of illegal trafficking.
The specified personal information would include such items as a person’s name, date of birth and address, the licence number and province of issuance, and such information as the serial number, make, model, and manufacturer of all known firearms. The Governor in Council would have the power to add to the list of specified disclosure information. To enhance transparency, the number of such disclosures made in a year would be added to the annual report the Commissioner of Firearms makes to the Minister.
Government Measures to Combat Smuggling and Trafficking
The Initiative to Take Action against Gun and Gang Violence (ITAAGGV) provides $125M to the RCMP and CBSA to enhance firearms investigations and strengthen controls at the border to prevent illegal firearms from entering the country. This investment enhances the RCMP’s regional firearms intelligence presence and creates a dedicated analytical capacity to develop actionable intelligence reports for law enforcement at the local, regional and provincial/territorial level. For CBSA, this funding provides them with greater operational capacity to screen passengers and examine commercial shipments, thereby protecting Canadians by preventing firearms and inadmissible people from coming into the country illegally. It also supports CBSA investments in an all-weather detector dog training facility, additional detector dog teams at key highway crossings, expansion of x-ray technology at postal centers and air cargo facilities, and key training in the detection of concealed goods in vehicles crossing our borders.
Building on these investments, in Budget 2021 an investment of $312M over five years was announced, starting in 2021–22, and $41.4M per year ongoing for PS, CBSA, and the RCMP to implement a suite of measures to help protect Canadians from gun violence and to fight gun smuggling and trafficking. This funding includes investments to increase RCMP capacity to trace crime guns and detect straw purchasing and enhance CBSA intelligence and investigative capacity at the border.
Cross Border Crime Forum and the Cross Border Firearms Task Force
Canada and the U.S. have formed the Cross-Border Firearms Task Force (CBFTF) to identify the primary sources of illicit firearms and to disrupt their flow and the exchange of illicit commodities for such firearms across the shared border. In March 2023, the CBSA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will allow direct and timely information-sharing. The CBFTF allows all partners to establish networks and channels of communication to share information directly on files/intelligence and actions/events occurring or expected to occur at the border.
Contacts:
Prepared by: [REDACTED], Policy Advisor, Firearms Policy Division, [REDACTED]
Approved by: Talal Dakalbab, Assistant Deputy Minister, Crime Prevention Branch, 613-852-1167
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