Less than half of the packages that might be suspicious coming into Canada from other countries are checked with X-rays for guns, according to a Public Safety department report..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, auditors found no details about how many guns were seized..“The percentage of mail items screened by the detection technology to assess whether they were high-risk items requiring an in-depth examination was 65% in 2021 and 46% in 2022,” said a department audit. .Findings were submitted by the Canada Border Services Agency that received dual view X-ray devices “purchased to screen increased volumes of mail” at postal sorting plants, wrote auditors..“Reporting data for the indicator measuring the percentage of international postal shipments examined using dual view X-ray technology which resulted in a seizure specifies 35% of these shipments were examined in 2021,” said the report Horizontal Evaluation of the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence. .“But it was not specified how many were seized.”.The Public Safety department admits they do not know how many guns are smuggled into Canada illegally. The RCMP estimates that most of these illegal guns are small, such as handguns and half are used in crimes..“There has been a marked increase in recent crime trends involving gun and gang violence,” said the report. It cited a 91% increase in fatal shootings from 2013 to 2020..“Gun and gang violence remains a pervasive issue across the country,” said Evaluation. .“Since 2016, shootings have become the most common type of homicide and in 2021 gang-related homicides continued to account for nearly one-quarter of all homicides in Canada. Seventy-four percent of these homicides are committed with a firearm.”.Under the Canada Post Corporation Act, police cannot intercept suspicious packages in transit. Postal inspectors typically flag packages for police tracking on delivery. Inspectors intercepted 3,457 contraband shipments by mail in 2021, according to Canada Post submissions to the Commons Government Operations committee..Lawmakers said there needs to be more ways to stop contraband by mail. On June 7, the Senate gave a second reading to Bill S-256 An Act to Amend the Canada Post Corporation Act that would let the police check suspicious packages..“Traffickers have spread the word that there is much less risk of their packages being intercepted if they send them through Canada Post rather than through any other private courier company such as FedEx, UPS, Purolator or DHL,” said Senator Claude Carignan (QC)..“This bill will finally close the loophole that traffickers have been exploiting in the Canada Post Corporation Act,” said Senator Carignan. .“This loophole, which only applies to items sent by Canada Post and not through other courier companies, means that traffickers prefer to do business with Canada Post.”
