Records show the cabinet budgeted $37.4 million for Trudeau’s gun grab program but spent a quarter of that amount without actually buying any firearms.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, newly revealed figures in an internal report from the Department of Public Safety cautioned the gun grab was susceptible to "wasted time, energy and funds."In an Inquiry of Ministry document presented in the Commons, the cabinet disclosed that it had allocated $37.4 million to purchase prohibited firearms.Out of the total budget, $8,964,109 was spent by the Public Safety Department and the RCMP before the program was postponed on October 12.The spending was disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing, ON) who asked “With regard to the department of public safety’s firearms buyback program for recently prohibited firearms, what are the details of all contracts?” Spending included $1.9 million “to develop the information technology required to administer the program,” said the Inquiry.The $8.9 million also included payments to contractors for “strategic advice,” “project management,” “management consulting,” “design options,” development of an “online survey solution,” and “communications research.”One contractor, Samson & Associates of Gatineau, QC, was paid $782,934 for “nimble assurance of a major transformation initiative.” The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association was paid $707,363 to contact manufacturers and gun stores “to gather detailed information on their individual inventory of firearms and restricted components, including demonstrable costs.”A 2021 internal Comprehensive Program Design Options Final Report earlier obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation warned the gun grab program was costly and complicated. “A country with the geographic scale of Canada with firearms dispersed over so wide an area has never attempted a firearms buyback program,” it said.“The effective collection and management of data will be key to the program’s success and to the measurement of that success,” said Options Final Report. “Poor data will drive inaccurate reporting, poor decision making and could lead to wasted time, energy and funds.”The budget of $37.4 million, as identified in the Inquiry of Ministry, did not account for the actual costs associated with purchasing back prohibited firearms.The estimates for buybacks by the cabinet suggested a range "between $300 million and $400 million," while the Budget Office forecasted a higher amount of $756 million.On October 11, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced the postponement of the entire gun grab program until 2025, after the next general election.“We specifically extended the gun amnesty so as not to criminalize people,” LeBlanc testified on October 23 at the Senate National Security committee.“People I know go hunting. Every time governments or Parliament legislate in this area, there is a very quick reaction from hunting groups and sports shooters, many of whom are in my constituency in rural New Brunswick.”
Records show the cabinet budgeted $37.4 million for Trudeau’s gun grab program but spent a quarter of that amount without actually buying any firearms.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, newly revealed figures in an internal report from the Department of Public Safety cautioned the gun grab was susceptible to "wasted time, energy and funds."In an Inquiry of Ministry document presented in the Commons, the cabinet disclosed that it had allocated $37.4 million to purchase prohibited firearms.Out of the total budget, $8,964,109 was spent by the Public Safety Department and the RCMP before the program was postponed on October 12.The spending was disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing, ON) who asked “With regard to the department of public safety’s firearms buyback program for recently prohibited firearms, what are the details of all contracts?” Spending included $1.9 million “to develop the information technology required to administer the program,” said the Inquiry.The $8.9 million also included payments to contractors for “strategic advice,” “project management,” “management consulting,” “design options,” development of an “online survey solution,” and “communications research.”One contractor, Samson & Associates of Gatineau, QC, was paid $782,934 for “nimble assurance of a major transformation initiative.” The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association was paid $707,363 to contact manufacturers and gun stores “to gather detailed information on their individual inventory of firearms and restricted components, including demonstrable costs.”A 2021 internal Comprehensive Program Design Options Final Report earlier obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation warned the gun grab program was costly and complicated. “A country with the geographic scale of Canada with firearms dispersed over so wide an area has never attempted a firearms buyback program,” it said.“The effective collection and management of data will be key to the program’s success and to the measurement of that success,” said Options Final Report. “Poor data will drive inaccurate reporting, poor decision making and could lead to wasted time, energy and funds.”The budget of $37.4 million, as identified in the Inquiry of Ministry, did not account for the actual costs associated with purchasing back prohibited firearms.The estimates for buybacks by the cabinet suggested a range "between $300 million and $400 million," while the Budget Office forecasted a higher amount of $756 million.On October 11, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced the postponement of the entire gun grab program until 2025, after the next general election.“We specifically extended the gun amnesty so as not to criminalize people,” LeBlanc testified on October 23 at the Senate National Security committee.“People I know go hunting. Every time governments or Parliament legislate in this area, there is a very quick reaction from hunting groups and sports shooters, many of whom are in my constituency in rural New Brunswick.”
