Trudeau Liberals spent $8.9 million on ‘buyback’ scheme without purchasing any guns

The Trudeau Liberals spent nearly $9 million on its gun 'buyback' scheme this year without purchasing a single firearm, says the Department of Public Safety. 

Cabinet in an Inquiry Of Ministry told the House of Commons it spent $8,964,109 of the $37.4 million allocated to the program before they paused it on October 12.

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant, who tabled the Inquiry, asked the federal government for details on its contracts. Public Safety Canada disclosed payments for “strategic advice,” project management, management consulting, "design options," development of an "online survey solution" and communications research.

One Québec contractor, Samson & Associates, received $782,934 for "nimble assurance of a major transformation initiative." Another company received $1.9 million "to develop the information technology required to administer the program."

The Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) pocketed $707,363 to consult manufacturers and gun stores "on their individual inventory of firearms and restricted components including demonstrable costs."

The estimates to purchase firearms range from upwards of $400 million by cabinet and $756 million by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

The $37.4 million budget did not account for the actual costs of buying back prohibited firearms, reported Blacklock’s Reporter

The figures follow an internal public safety report that warned the 'buyback' scheme is a "waste [of] time, energy and funds." A 2021 internal Comprehensive Program Design Options Final Report earlier obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) called the program 'costly' and 'complicated.'

"A country with the geographic scale of Canada with firearms dispersed over such a wide area has never attempted a firearms buyback program," it said.

"The effective collection and management of data will be key to the program’s success and to the measurement of that success," said Options Final Report. "Poor data will drive inaccurate reporting, poor decision making and could lead to wasted time, energy and funds."

On October 11, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc deferred the entire program until after the 2025 federal election, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

"We specifically extended the gun amnesty so as not to criminalize people," he told the Senate national security committee.

"People I know go hunting," said LeBlanc. "Every time governments or Parliament legislate in this area there is a very quick reaction from hunting groups and sports shooters, many of whom are in my constituency in rural New Brunswick," he added.

Alex Dhaliwal

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