Ottawa allocates tens of millions to fight gun smuggling, violence
The Globe and Mail November 08, 2018
The federal government is dedicating $86-million over the next five years to detection dogs, X-ray technology, ballistics testing and other measures to stifle rising gun violence.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the funding, announced on Thursday, is part of a $327.6-million commitment the government made last year to combat gun and gang violence. Another $200-million is being made available to provinces and territories to finance community guns and gangs programs.
The lion’s share of the $86-million will go toward keeping illegal guns from crossing the border, a major source of firearms that end up in criminal possession. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will receive $51.5-million to spend on building a training facility for sniffer dogs, dispatching new dog teams to key highway crossings, training border guards to better detect smuggled goods and buying more X-ray machines for postal centres and air-cargo facilities.