Gage Haubrich is the Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.If you were going to spend a bunch of money on a new car, you’d probably want some proof that it actually works first. Right?Apparently, Ottawa believes evidence is optional when spending taxpayers’ money.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation filed an access-to-information request with Public Safety Canada, the department in charge of the federal government’s “gun grab” and confiscation scheme. The request simply asks for “all analysis from the department on the efficacy of the assault style firearms compensation program and its effect on crime rates/public safety.”The department advised that “no information related to your request exists within Public Safety Canada.”Let that sink in.The federal government is asking taxpayers to pay for a program without doing any analysis about whether it will even work.Ottawa budgeted at least $742 million for this program, with some experts saying the cost could reach up to six billion dollars. Yet the federal government can’t produce a single shred of analysis showing that it will make Canadians safer, according to the request..Spending hundreds of millions without a shred of evidence is beyond irresponsible.Federal politicians have repeatedly defended the “gun grab” by claiming it would make Canadians safer and reduce crime. “The fewer the guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be,” said former prime minister Justin Trudeau.“You can’t be tough on crime unless you’re tough on guns,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney.If Ottawa actually cared about results, it could have asked law enforcement experts if it is worth spending hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars on.“We know that the gun buyback program is going to have, essentially, zero impact on the crime in Toronto,” said Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association.“Buyback programs are largely ineffective at reducing gun violence, in large part because the people who participate in such programs are not likely to use those guns to commit violence,” said University of Toronto professor Jooyoung Lee, who studies gun violence in Canada..Dozens of police forces across the country have also declined to participate in the program.Or it could have looked at international examples.The New Zealand government conducted a similar confiscation program in 2019. It confiscated more than 50,000 firearms in a country of around five million. The number of violent firearm crimes in the country increased after the confiscation.Or it could have asked the provinces what they think.“If we’re looking at taking away weapons from criminals … I’m all for that, but this program doesn’t look like it’s going to achieve that end,” said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. “Instead, it’s going to create other issues around administration and costs.”“You’re focusing on the wrong group,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “I support law-abiding hunters and gun owners.”Alberta and Saskatchewan think the program is so ridiculous that those governments passed laws to block the enforcement of the confiscation in their jurisdictions..All provincial and territorial governments, except for British Columbia and Quebec, have also declined to participate, with most citing serious doubts about the program’s effectiveness.And Canadians don’t think it makes sense.Leger polling shows that most Canadians believe cracking down on gun smuggling operations would be more effective than confiscating firearms from licenced owners.No one is standing behind the gun confiscation. The feds can’t show that this program will make anyone safer. The police and other experts say it won’t work. International examples say it won’t work. The provinces won’t help enforce it. And Canadians don’t think it will be effective.Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying the massive bills for a program Ottawa hasn’t even analyzed. The jig is up. If Carney cannot prove that the confiscation will make Canadians safer, taxpayers should not be forced to pay for his “gun grab.”Gage Haubrich is the Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
