The Canadian federal government's gun buyback program, unveiled in 2020, has cost over $67 Million. No guns have been bought.
Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M since 2020, still hasn't collected guns | CTV News | Daniel Otis:
September 20, 2024 -"The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun. The program is designed to compensate owners of assault-style firearms that were banned by the Liberal government in 2020.
"Although many details of the program still haven't been revealed after four years, businesses and gun owners only have until the end of October 2025 to turn in, deactivate or dispose of outlawed weapons. The government estimates there are 150,000 prohibited assault-style firearms(opens in a new tab) in the country.
"The $67.2 million includes $56.1 million spent by Public Safety Canada and almost $11.1 million by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nearly $11.5 million of that money went to external consultants for software, logistics, communication support and more.
"The figures were acquired by Senate opposition leader Donald Plett through what's known as an order paper question, a procedure lawmakers use to get information from the government. Plett calls the program a 'boondoggle'.... '$67 million is an incredible, shocking amount of money to spend on a program that doesn't yet exist' ... Plett said in a statement to CTVNews.ca. 'And even more outrageous is the fact that $11 million of taxpayers hard-earned money has been given out to external consultants. Those contracts need to be made public.'
"When Plett pressed government Senate representative Marc Gold on the issue on Wednesday, Gold said he would not table information detailing the $11.5 million in external contracts.... A 2023 order paper question from Plett revealed that 60 employees from Public Safety Canada and 15 from the RCMP were assigned to the Canadian program at the time. At least $117 million in funds have been obtained to further advance the program, according to Public Safety Canada.
"Public Safety Canada plans to roll out the program in two phases, beginning with business owners who hold banned stock and then individual owners. Approximately 2,000 models and variants of assault-style firearms are covered by the May 2020 ban. Proposed compensation is based on original pricing and ranges from about $1,100 to more than $6,200 per weapon. The deadline for both businesses and individuals is Oct. 30, 2025.
"In 2021, the parliamentary budget officer estimated that it could cost the government $756 million to buy back every gun at fair market value."
No guns bought back, despite millions spent on Trudeau’s gun buyback | Toronto Sun | March 26, 2024:
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