Feds urged to beef up gun, gang legislation

OTTAWA — The mayor of Canada’s biggest city is stressing the need for more money and stronger laws to fight gangrelated gun violence.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said Wednesday that while Canada generally has tight controls on firearms, there are “some holes that exist in that system.”

Measures should be toughened to ensure authorities are notified when gun traffickers make repeat purchases of firearms that end up being sold to criminals who kill, Tory told a national conference on guns and gangs.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale convened the meeting of government, police, community and Indigenous representatives against the backdrop of troubling statistics.

The number of firearmrelated homicides in Canada hit 223 in 2016 — up 44 from 2015, and the third consecutive annual increase.

There were 141 gang-related homicides in 2016, 45 more than the previous year.

The federal government has set aside about $327 million over five years, and $100 million a year thereafter, to address criminal gun and gang activities.

The government is also preparing a bill to strengthen controls on the movement, licensing and tracing of firearms — measures that would repeal some elements of a bill passed by the previous Conservative government, Goodale said.

Rob O’Reilly, interim director of firearms regulatory services at the RCMP, told the meeting about parts of the internet where high-powered weapons can be purchased anonymously.

Conservative MP Glen Motz expressed concern: “You can go on the web right now, and you can order almost anything you want, and it’s delivered to your door.”