The Sask budget for 2023-24 includes more than $1 billion in spending on public safety and the criminal justice system, including legal firearm owners protections from the Trudeau government's gun grab and the Saskatchewan Marshals Service (SMS).. GunsGuns .Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre said the budget shows the government’s commitment to keeping Saskatchewan safe, including “a three-year commitment of $876,000 to support second-stage housing for women and their children fleeing domestic violence.”.“As we hire and empower prosecutors, improve access to justice, and invest further in second-stage housing, this budget reflects our overall commitment to make Saskatchewan people and communities safe,” said Eyre..READ MORE Sask budget includes record spending, no new taxes, paying down debt.Saskatchewan is spending on a variety of police and law enforcement initiatives to address crime, including the Provincial Protective Services Branch, the Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team (WEST), the Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team, the SMS, and the Crime Reduction Teams (CRT)..“The Marshals Service and the expansions to WEST and CRT build on previous steps our government has taken to keep Saskatchewan people and communities safe,” said Corrections, Policing, and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell..“This year's budget will continue to advance programs and services in the areas of policing and corrections.”. Christine Tell Sask MLA .There is $7 million to train and recruit 70 new SMS officers to assist rural and remote communities with policing to keep their communities safe..The WEST and CRT are receiving $3.2 million to deal with gang-related crime..The Internet Child Exploitation Unit will receive $147,000 to help local police with the increasing amount of online child pornography arrests in the province..Saskatchewan intends to keep “protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners” and “reduce the criminal use of firearms” by spending $8.9 million on the Saskatchewan Firearms Program (SFP)..The SFP includes a Central Management and Services (CMS) unit, which has jurisdiction over the licensing, storage, safe transportation, and carrying firearms..If the Trudeau government starts confiscating firearms from law-abiding owners, the new Firearms Compensation committee will “determine the fair market value of any firearms, ammunition, and related accessories being expropriated by the federal government.”.The final part of the SFP is the Saskatchewan Firearms Ballistics Lab for “Saskatchewan-based ballistics and firearms expertise” to support the police..“Working alongside Saskatchewan firearms owners to promote proper licensing and firearms safety is a key component of the work we do,” said Chief Firearms Officer Robert Freberg..“Enhancements to the provincial firearms program are essential as we work to improve public safety and stop illegal guns from entering our province.”.Gage Haubrich, of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, had a warning for the government..“What we're concerned with is cost to taxpayers when it comes down to those programs. So if they're going to implement that they're going to do their own thing Saskatchewan type of scenario they need to make sure that it doesn't come with to an extra cost to taxpayers over what is budgeted to send to the RCMP, for example.”
