Cape Breton Regional Police burned through more than $23,000 on unnecessary security measures during a peaceful protest against Ottawa’s gun grab program, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).“This was a completely peaceful event and taxpayers still got stuck with a bill for more than $23,000,” said Devin Drover, the CTF’s Atlantic director and general counsel. “Shutting down a police station and deploying dozens of officers for a community meeting is a pointless waste of resources.”Hundreds of Cape Bretoners gathered in October to oppose Ottawa’s gun grab pilot project. Despite the calm crowd, police shut down the entire station for the day, spent $653 on privacy security and deployed 26 officers at a cost of $22,548. None of the units were used and there were no incidents reported..The details were released through freedom of information requests filed by the CTF.“Cape Bretoners showed up in big numbers because they know this gun grab will not make Canadians safer,” said Drover. “Instead of supporting taxpayers like other police officers speaking out across Canada, the police in Cape Breton locked the doors and burned through thousands of dollars.”Experts continue to warn the federal confiscation plan won’t reduce crime.“It won’t impact crime rates,” said Doug King, professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University.The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP officers, has also said the scheme “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”.Meanwhile, costs continue to escalate. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates compensation alone could reach $756 million, while other analysts warn the final bill could climb into the billions.“This latest example in Cape Breton shows the gun grab is wasting even more taxpayer money before it’s rolled out nationally,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie director. “Law-abiding gun owners are clearly not the problem and taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for a program that will not make Canadians safer.”
