'Tackling it head on': Mendicino outlines government’s strategies against gun smuggling

Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino views seized firearms at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

The federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino is in Windsor Tuesday to highlight what’s being done to stop gun smuggling and trafficking at Canada’s border crossings.

Mendicino held a special event at the Canada Border Service Agency’s commercial inspection facility at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor.

“Last year in 2021, as a result of the CBSA and other law enforcement branches across the country, we seized a record number of firearms, which is a sign that we're heading in the right direction, but there's a lot more work to be done,” said Mendicino.

The minister explained the federal government is investing over $350 million in the CBSA and other branches of law enforcement to stop illegal gun smuggling.

“It’s one of the main sources of gun crime in Canada, and we're tackling it head on,” said Mendicino.

Mendicino continued, “this year's federal budget does allow for more federal investments so that we can continue to scale up the kind of technology that you're seeing here on display right across the country.”

Federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino with a CBSA officer and dog at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Mendicino suggested the faster scans can happen, the more border resources can be allocated to other cross-border concerns.

“The more that we can do that scanning the more that we can interject and stop illegal gun smuggling at our at our borders, which is obviously a key pillar to our strategy to reducing gun crime.”

Mendicino also participated in the annual meeting of the Jay Treaty Border Alliance, which unites Indigenous communities from both Canada and the US to address border-related Indigenous issues.