The federal government’s controversial gun grab of “assault-style” firearms is now expected to cost $342.6 million, according to testimony from public safety officials who acknowledged the estimate relies on outdated police data from over a decade ago.Speaking before the Senate national finance committee, senior officials from the Department of Public Safety confirmed that the first phase of the program, involving the collection of prohibited firearms from businesses, ended April 30 with about $20 million budgeted to retrieve 12,000 weapons. Blacklock's Reporter said so far, $4.8 million has been invoiced for that phase, excluding additional costs such as destruction services and staff.The second phase, targeting gun owners directly, is expected to be far more expensive. .The department plans to spend another $75.5 million in support to provinces and territories, while $260 million has been earmarked to compensate individual owners.Despite the hefty price tag, officials admitted they are uncertain how many firearms are actually in circulation.“We are estimating there is a total of approximately 180,000 assault-style firearms to collect,” said Marcia Jones, director general with the department.“Those estimates are based on data provided by the RCMP for previously registered firearms. We were able to do estimates based on what was known in 2012.”.That admission raised eyebrows among senators, especially since Parliament ordered the destruction of long-gun registry records in 2012 through Bill C-19.Sen. Claude Carignan questioned how the department could rely on data that was supposed to be erased.“So this is leftover data that was used here?” Carignan asked. “That’s right,” replied Jones.Jones explained that while Québec maintained its own registry, the rest of the country now has what she described as “a bit of a data gap,” especially when it comes to unregistered firearms.A 2020 cabinet forecast projected the buyback would cost between $300 million and $400 million. The Parliamentary Budget Office later warned the total could reach $756 million due to significant unknowns about the number of affected firearms.“There remain too many outstanding questions,” the PBO wrote in its 2021 report on the buyback program’s cost estimate.
