On November 1, 2021, 48-year-old Florida resident Vivian Richard attempted to smuggle 56 illegal weapons into Canada.[i]
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) agents at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry felt something was off about Ms. Richard’s statements and referred her vehicle for a “secondary examination.”
This secondary examination led to the discovery of the illegal weapons.
We commend the fine men and women of the CBSA for their excellent discernment in this case.
In 2020, CBSA seized 548 illegal guns from individuals who attempted to smuggle them into Canada.
This seizure alone means CBSA has already seized more smuggled guns (565) than they did last year, and statistics are only available for the first quarter of 2021.[ii]
This is excellent work by the fine men and women of the CBSA.
CBSA Funding Slashed by Bill Blair
During his tenure (failure?) as Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair repeatedly praised himself in Parliament for his “investments in borders and law enforcement.”[iii]
While Blair attempted to take credit for investing “$86 million in the CBSA and RCMP to conduct investigations at our border for those gangs and individuals responsible for smuggling guns,”[iv] in reality Bill Blair slashed CBSA funding by $264.9 million in 2021 and another $125.1 million in 2022.[v]
The sickening truth was vastly different than the lies Bill Blair peddled to Parliament and through it, to all Canadians.
“The narrative is that we need to restrict gun ownership because that will curtail crime, when really the evidence is that illegal gun trafficking leads to criminals owning guns, which leads to crimes with firearms,” said Brian Sauvé, President of the National Police Federation.[vi]
How many more illegal guns could they have seized had former Public Safety Minister Bill Blair NOT slashed CBSA’s budget by $390 million over two years?
The CBSA is our front-line defence against gun smugglers.
Last week we congratulated Marco Mendicino on his appointment as Canada’s Minister of Public Safety.[vii]
Given the CBSA’s announcement that they stopped another massive shipment of illegal guns destined for drug dealers, gangs and other violent criminals, today is a great day to encourage Minister Mendicino to correct the gross negligence of his predecessor and restore all of CBSA’s slashed funding.
Contact Marco Mendicino Today
Please write Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and politely encourage him to restore the $390 million that his predecessor cut from CBSA’s budget.
The CBSA’s $390 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of Bill Blair’s Firearm Confiscation Compensation Scheme, but here’s the difference every Canadian should care about: Restoring CBSA’s funding will actually increase public safety.
Send your letter, postage-free, to:
Minister Marco Mendicino
511 Lawrence Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario M6A 1A3
Telephone: 416-781-5583
Fax: 416-781-5586
Email: marco.mendicino@parl.gc.ca
Sources:
[i] https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/11/20/florida-woman-charged-attempting-to-smuggle-56-guns-into-ontario/
[ii] https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/seizure-saisie-eng.html
[iii] https://openparliament.ca/committees/covid-19-pandemic/43-1/23/bill-blair-2/
[iv] https://openparliament.ca/committees/covid-19-pandemic/43-1/11/bill-blair-11/
[v] https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/rpp/2020-2021/report-rapport-eng.pdf, Page 28
[vi] https://nationalpost.com/news/liberal-firearm-ban-unlikely-to-curb-gun-violence-rcmp-union-says-as-it-calls-for-evidence-based-policy
[vii] https://cssa-cila.org/an-open-letter-to-public-safety-minister-marco-mendicino/
The Culture of Safety