The federal government has proposed to increase the jail sentence for gun smuggling to a 14-year maximum, but no court has ever imposed the current 10-year maximum sentence.
At a House of Commons public safety committee meeting on April 25, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said, “By raising maximum sentences, we are sending a very strong signal.”
The federal government’s Bill C-21, An Act to Amend Certain Acts, would increase the sentence for gunrunning under the Criminal Code. However, Mendicino acknowledged the maximum sentence in effect now has never been applied, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
Conservative Manitoba MP Raquel Dancho asked Mendicino, “How common is it now to sentence someone to 10 years, the current maximum?”
“I have confidence in the judiciary to exercise good judgment,” replied Mendicino.
“Is it common at all? Has it happened quite a bit?” Dancho said.
Mendicino would not directly answer. He said, “Every single case is taken on its facts. But I have confidence in the judiciary to use higher maximum sentences to make sure gun traffickers who terrorize our communities with guns are separated from the community.”
In an Inquiry of Ministry presented in the House of Commons on Dec. 12, 2022, cabinet said the current maximum has not been applied since 2016. The data said 390 criminals were sentenced for weapons trafficking, and none were jailed for a 10-year sentence.
“Not one person has been awarded the current 10-year maximum sentence,” Dancho said.
“It is frustrating to see you talk on national television, here today, in Question Period to our questions, about how you are getting tough on gun traffickers and increasing the maximum to 14 years when the current 10 years has never been used since your Prime Minister formed government,” she added.
According to Mendicino, Bill C-21 has “a lot of good policy.” He said, “I share the concern that Ms. Dancho articulates around maximum sentences.”
This prompted Alberta Conservative MP Dane Lloyd to say the bill was “virtue signalling” and would not reduce gun crimes.
He said, “There are currently bans on criminals for possessing firearms in this country without a license as it is and yet they continue to access firearms.”
One prominent example of this was the death of rookie Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer Grzegorz Pierzchala, a 28-year-old constable, shot by a suspect with a handgun while responding to a routine call about a vehicle in a ditch near Hagersville, Ontario, on Dec. 27, 2022.
One of the individuals charged with first-degree murder in the officer’s death was a repeat offender who had been released from prison and was out on bail. The suspect was already prohibited from possession of a gun by two previous court orders.
Lloyd criticized the Liberals’ gun ban bill, which affects legal, licensed firearms owners.
“What is disrespectful to Canadians is putting forward divisive political policies that are only designed to help the Liberal Party win elections instead of policies that will actually combat violent crime in our communities,” he said.
“That is what is disrespectful to victims.”
In a Nov. 10, 2022, Public Safety briefing note, Efforts to Address Firearms Smuggling and Trafficking, the federal government said it did not know how many guns are illegally brought into Canada across the border.
“The total number of firearms successfully smuggled into Canada is unknown,” said the note.
