York Police Say All Seizures of Guns Used in Violent Crime Whose Origins Were Traced Came From US

Police tape is shown in a file photo. Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press

According to “Guns, Gangs, and Violence,” a new police report by York Regional Police in Ontario, 100 percent of seized guns whose origin could be traced were found to be illegally smuggled into Canada from the United States.

In presenting the report to the York Regional Police Services Board on Nov. 7, Inspector Ahmad Salhia said that the Liberal government’s handgun freeze with Bill C-21 is not targeting the smuggling of illegal weapons into the country.

“The key here is newly acquired handguns, and not illicit handguns,” said Salhia. He said it was the position of York Police “that this bill will not disrupt the flow of illicit firearms entering Canada from the United States.”

Illicit Guns Smuggled From the US

According to York Police, the vast majority of firearms being seized on the streets are illegally smuggled in, not owned by legal firearms owners.

Salhia told the police services board that the “common theme” throughout the presentation would be “illicit firearms entering Canada from the United States.”

To illustrate, Salhia said out of 107 guns seized by police by Oct 1 of this year, 83 were successfully traced. A hundred percent of those guns, all 83, were found to be illicit firearms coming from the United States and illegally smuggled into Canada.

Bill C-21, which came into effect Oct. 22, implements a national freeze on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns by Canadian citizens, as well as a freeze on bringing newly acquired handguns into the country. Only carefully screened, licensed, trained, and registered Canadians are permitted to obtain a firearms license (PAL or RPAL), allowing them to legally possess a handgun under strict requirements, or a long gun (shotgun or rifle).

In 2021, Salhia said there were 68 handguns seized by police and later traced, and 98 percent were identified as entering Canada illicitly from the United States. In 2020, 45 handguns were traced and 94 percent of those came from the United States illegally.

Of the 37 guns seized by Oct. 1 this year, 68 percent, or 25 of those, were traced back to the United States, and illegally smuggled into Canada. Thirty-two percent, or 12 guns, were of unknown origin.

Salhia told the board that when police seize a firearm, they generally send it out for tracing to identify the point of origin and track where the firearm came from. Guns of unknown origin either have the serial number obliterated and the police cannot trace the firearm, or the firearm is still in the process of being traced, he explained.

In 2022, the York Police Hold-Up Unit seized 25 crime guns. Twenty-three of those, 92 percent, were traced to the United States. Eight percent were listed as unknown origin. The Homicide unit seized three crime guns. One was traced to the United States, while the other two are of unknown origin.

The GGDEU unit sized 42 crime guns, tracing 81 percent, 34 of those, back to the United States, with 19 percent of unknown origin.

Between 2016 and 2021, Salhia said, there was a 4,000 percent increase in the number of frontline firearm seizures on the road by uniformed officers, usually through traffic stops. Frontline seizures are separate from investigative units and seizures.

In 2016, police seized one firearm on the road. In 2021, police seized 41. As of Oct. 1 this year, York police have already seized 37 and predict the 2022 total will come in at 48 to 50 total seizures by uniformed officers.

Gang Crime

York police said intelligence has identified gangs as a significant contributor to violent crime in the region. Toronto street gang members are accumulating wealth through crime and migrating into suburban communities like York, the meeting heard.

In 2022, police identified over 100 gang members currently living in the York region, from more than 37 gangs, including the Galloway Boys, Driftwood Crips, Haywan Gang, MS-13, and Lanes Gang.

Since 2019, there have been 163 instances of a firearm discharged or a shooting in the York region.

Project Monarch, a multi-jurisdiction gang enforcement collaboration between York Regional Police, the London Police Service, Peel Regional Police, and Ontario Provincial Police, made 22 arrests of gang suspects and laid over 400 charges, plus seized 27 handguns, $1.3 million in illegal drugs, and more than $160,00 in cash.

Salhia said Project Monarch dismantled a sophisticated criminal network responsible for the distribution of large quantities of cocaine and fentanyl across Ontario, and dismantled a criminal pipeline responsible for the illicit flow of firearms entering Canada from the United States.

“We believe that these firearms were destined to the streets, into the hands of violent criminals,” said the inspector. Salhia said that the criminal conspiracy to import illicit firearms into Canada from the United States is suspected to be using an 800-metre gap in the St. Clair River between Walpole Island, a first nations community in Western Ontario, and Port Huron, Michigan, as the point of entry.