Fight against gun smuggling faces looming budget cuts

NDP MP warns lost jobs in border services could mean more guns on streets

OTTAWA— Front-line border officers are confiscating fewer guns than they did a decade ago and ongoing budget cuts could make it even harder to stem the tide of illegal firearms onto Toronto streets, a New Democrat MP says.

The Conservative government, which has made law-and-order the central plank of its agenda, is being pressed to do more to combat the smuggling of handguns to Canada from the U.S.

“The proliferation is enormous . . . they’re used in crimes. They’re used by youth,” MP Mike Sullivan said Friday.

“I think everybody ought to be worried about where they are coming from, how they’re getting in. We are very concerned that the CBSA is not really adequately staffed to deal with gun smug- gling,” Sullivan said.

An ongoing series by the Star has put the issue of gun smuggling in the spotlight, revealing how easy guns are moved into Canada from the U.S.

And combating that problem promises to get only tougher in the wake of budget cuts that will shrink the ranks of the Canada Border Services Agency, said Jean-Pierre Fortin of the Customs and Immigration Union.

Last year’s federal budget set in motion cuts that will reduce the CBSA’s budget by $143.3 million a year by 2014-15. The cuts will mean a loss of 1,351 positions within CBSA, which includes 325 frontline officers and another 100 intelligence officers, Fortin said.

“Now you will see those cuts impacting the CBSA big-time . . . There’s going to be less security at the border,” he said.

In question period Friday, Sullivan said budget cuts are putting Canadians at risk. “We are all paying the price in community safety,” said Sullivan (York South-Weston), citing recent gun crimes in the city, including the brazen bank robbery that left a teller and cus- tomer wounded.

“When will the Conservatives realize that cutting border services and failing to address gun smuggling is putting public safety at risk,” he said.

Conservative MP Candice Bergen (Portage-Lisgar) said the government has boosted the number of front-line officers. And she said the government has toughened legislation in a bid to curb smuggling and reduce gun violence.

A spokesperson for the CBSA said the budget reductions would have “little to no impact” on its front-line operations and said the savings would be found in lower priority areas and restructuring.

“The safety and security of Canadians will not be compromised through the implementation of any of the CBSA’s budget reduction initiatives,” Esme Bailey said in an email to the Star.

But the Star series has revealed that guns continue to slip across the border in large numbers. In 2009, Toronto police seized 861 crime guns in the city, at least 70 per cent of which are smuggled from the U.S. A crime gun is any gun that is illegally possessed or has an obliterat-

“We are all paying the price in community safety.” MIKE SULLIVAN NDP MP

ed serial number, or is seized in relation to a criminal act, such as a shooting.

In the same year, border services in Ontario seized just nine crime guns they believed were headed for the criminal market, according to a 2010 internal report on gun smuggling obtained by the Star. “Intelligence and investigations conducted by law enforcement agencies reveal that hundreds of firearms are smuggled into Canada yearly that are destined for the criminal market,” the report says.

While border services seize hundreds of guns across Canada each year, most belong to legitimate American travellers who don’t declare their weapons, which is against the law. These “mom and pop” guns made up the majority of the 2,641 guns seized by border services across Canada between 2005 and 2009.

The Star’s research also found that border services is confiscating nearly half the number of guns they did a decade ago. From 2001 to 2005, border services seized an average of 856 firearms per year. Over the past five years, the average has been 494 firearms per year.