The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is taking the federal government to court over a lack of transparency about the gun buy-back program.

CTF Prairie Director Gage Haubrich believes taking legal action will get taxpayers the answers they’re looking for, as Ottawa hasn’t been very transparent. Haubrich says an access-to-information request was launched back in 2023. Ottawa disclosed that the British Columbia RCMP wanted over $12 million to do their part, but price tags for other provinces weren’t revealed. A complaint was then filed with the Information Commissioner, but it’s almost been two years since a report has come back on the file.

Cost estimates for the program have been all over the place, with the original price tag slated at $200 million, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reporting about $756 million just to confiscate the firearms, and independent experts expecting a bill in the $6 billion range.

Haubrich says taxpayers deserve to see the full picture, and as soon as possible, as the buyback is already underway.

“It’s still early days. We just filed the lawsuit in federal court, so we’re trying to compel the government to make the office of the Information Commissioner to actually rule on this thing.”

Haubrich says “while this is really important to the gun file…it shows the broader issues with the access-to-information system that taxpayers are often stuck waiting years to get information that might not be relevant anymore.”

He adds that the government should just scrap the buy-back altogether, as it’s a waste of money that’s not going to make Canadian’s any safer.