Feds spend nearly $1M on gun buyback website before collecting a single firearm
Critics are targeting the Liberals' gun 'buyback' program for failing to address the problem of illegally obtained firearms.
The federal government has already spent more than $989,000 operating the web portal for its gun buyback program despite the program still failing to meaningfully collect prohibited firearms.
The figure was revealed in a written response to an Order Paper Question from Conservative MP Ted Falk (Provencher), tabled in Parliament on January 26.
According to the Department of Public Safety, the money has gone toward running and maintaining the RCMP Firearms Compensation Program Web Portal and Case Management System, the digital platform meant to support Ottawa’s controversial gun confiscation scheme.
The government also confirmed that a total of $2.3 million has been budgeted for the system, with most of that spending scheduled for the current fiscal year.
Falk’s question sought details on the full cost of the system, including ongoing upkeep, outside contractors, technical failures, and future spending plans.
The department admitted the nearly $1 million already spent covers operating, servicing, and maintaining the system since its creation. However, the response did not disclose how many firearms have been processed through the portal or whether the system has delivered any tangible results.
The web portal is part of the Liberals’ “buyback” program tied to the 2020 Order-in-Council banning thousands of models of legally owned firearms. After years of delays, the program has yet to demonstrate meaningful participation from gun owners.
Ottawa’s firearms policy is burning through taxpayer dollars while doing little to address violent crime, which is overwhelmingly committed with illegal, smuggled handguns rather than licensed firearms.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2026-01-28 23:02:41 -0500Bernhard nailed it. And judging by my experience in the civil service, too much time goes into writing up directives and policy statements.We’d have better success having the Vogons set up the gun grab.
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2026-01-28 21:26:39 -0500I’m reminded of an episode of the first “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” radio series. The inhabitants of the Golgafrinchan B Ark land on a very prehistoric Earth and some of them are sitting around debating what colour the first wheel should be, which was they never succeeded in inventing it.
Could it be that the government officials in this situation spent all that time and money worrying about something as trivial as the style of font? Perhaps Geneva would give the website’s users a more favourable “experience” than, say, Helvetica……
