News Release

McGuinty Government Urging Full Federal Funding For Additional Police Officers

NEWS

In a meeting with their federal counterparts today, Ontario’s justice ministers will outline the need for greater federal involvement in the fight against gun crime in Ontario.

Attorney General Chris Bentley and Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci will meet with Ministers Rob Nicholson and Stockwell Day to seek:

• Tougher gun laws, including a ban on handguns
• Full federal funding for the 2,500 additional police officers promised nationwide
• Increased anti-gun smuggling security at the Canada-US border.

Bentley and Bartolucci will also express disappointment in the federal government's extension of the long gun registry amnesty for a third consecutive year.  The amnesty rejects police advice on gun safety and circumvents parliament by ignoring existing gun laws.  Under the amnesty, owners of non-restricted firearms (i.e. rifles and shotguns) are protected from criminal liability for being in possession of unregistered firearms and, in certain cases, for being unlicensed to possess firearms.  Ontario strongly urges the federal government to continue to properly maintain the firearms registry in its present form in order to better protect and support police who access the registry thousands of times a day.

QUOTES

“The Federal government was elected on a promise to put 2,500 more police officers on Canada’s streets, but have committed less than half of the funding,” said Bartolucci. “It’s only fair that the Federal government match our 1,000 additional police by fully funding 1,000 more.”

“Passage of Bill C-2 is a good first step, but there’s more work to do,” said Bentley. “Let’s take the next step and get serious about decreasing the availability of handguns.  We need to ban handguns and stop the flow of guns across our border.”

QUICK FACTS

• The McGuinty government has put 1,000 more police officers on Ontario streets.
• Since 2003, the government has hired more than 220 new Crown attorneys, including 72 Guns and Gangs Task Force prosecutors and six new anti-gun smuggling Crowns.
• With almost 194,000 registered handguns in Ontario, there are thousands of opportunities for theft and misuse.

LEARN MORE

Learn more about the McGuinty government’s $68 million comprehensive strategy to fight gun crime in Ontario.