Jason Sulatycki, a 42-year-old drug dealer from Windsor, Ontario, was busted on February 10, 2021, in possession of an illegal firearm in contravention of his existing Firearm Prohibition Order.

Windsor’s Drugs and Guns Unit (DIGS) raided his home and seized quantities of blue fentanyl, purple fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine at the scene as well.

Jason Sulatycki now faces charges of

• possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking
• failure to comply with a release order
• unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, and
• four counts of possession of a firearm while prohibited

Stephanie Davis, a 27-year-old woman, was also arrested and charged with

• possession of crystal methamphetamine with intent to sell and
• possession of a firearm without a licence or registration

While these charges have yet to be proven in court, the fact another drug dealer was busted with an illegal gun in violation of his Firearm Prohibition Order shows our government still refuses to take enforcement of firearm prohibition orders seriously.

Since November 1, 2019, news reports show 682 people with existing Firearm Prohibition Orders against them have been re-arrested in illegal possession of firearms.

Firearm researcher Dennis Young learned, through one of his myriad Freedom of Information requests, from 2014 to 2018 police arrested 5,550 criminals who were already prohibited from possessing firearms – an average of 1,110 per year.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair continues to waste his time focusing on banning legally-owned firearms from licensed firearm owners, yet completely ignores violent drug dealers and other criminals with Firearm Prohibition Orders who continue to use illegal guns to commit more crimes.

It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see Minister Blair is on the wrong track.

Fortunately for violent criminals with Firearm Prohibition Orders against them, there is no sign Bill Blair intends to fix this problem any time soon.

Unfortunately for ordinary Canadians, that means more innocent people will be hurt and killed while Minister Blair virtue-signals to downtown Toronto voters.

 

Canada’s Firearm Prohibition Order system is broken

Jason Sulatycki is another example of how Canada’s Firearm Prohibition Order system is broken and must be fixed.

Common sense dictates our scarce police resources should be devoted to those individuals who pose the greatest risk to public safety, yet these are the people Canada’s legislators and police totally ignore.

People with a history of violent offences are a proven danger to public safety, yet these are the people our government refuses to check on or track.

• No police agency in Canada tracks individuals with Firearm Prohibition Orders registered against them.
• There is no legal requirement for police to track individuals with Firearm Prohibition Orders registered against them or routinely check on them to ensure compliance.
• There is no legal requirement for individuals with Firearm Prohibition Orders to notify police when they move to a new residence. Police have no idea where these people are.

There is a better way.

Britain devotes specialised police units to check on individuals under Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO). Think of Britain’s SHPO as Canada’s Firearm Prohibition Orders but for sex offenders, and with powers of enforcement our FPO system totally lacks.

Under British law, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order places specific obligations on the offender, and it also gives police the power to ensure individuals convicted of offences under the Sexual Offences Act obey those judicial restrictions.

This is the same Firearm Prohibition Order system New Zealand is trying to implement today.

Individuals with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (Source) registered against them must:

• Notify authorities if they do not have a fixed address;
• Notify authorities of any change of address or name within three (3) days;
• Notify authorities of any place they have resided or stayed for at least seven days, whether for seven consecutive days or for a cumulative period of seven days in any 12-month period;
• Notify the police of information contained in, or in relation to, their passport, bank account, credit card or debit card at each notification;
• Declare their SHPO to any actual or potential employers;
• These notifications must be made in person and police may, at their discretion, take photographs and/or fingerprints each time.

All Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are registered in the Police National Computer (PNC), Britain’s version of our Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) – Canada’s central police database where law enforcement agencies can access a wide range of information.

In Canada, Firearm Prohibition Orders are accessible via CPIC, but no police agency is tasked with checking on or searching these violent offenders to ensure they are living within the terms of those orders.

British police have the right to check on and search individuals with an SHPO at any time to ensure compliance.

Canada must apply this same strategy to dealing with repeat offenders with Firearm Prohibition Orders.

The only thing standing in the way of Firearm Prohibition Order Reform is Justin Trudeau, his Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, and his Justice Minister, David Lametti.

 

Contact the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety

If you, like me, want to see violent criminal offenders tracked and checked on to ensure they are abiding by all of their conditions of release, including Firearm Prohibition Orders, please write Justice Minister David Lametti and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and demand they introduce legislation to implement these reforms immediately.

The Honourable David Lametti
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Email the Minister of Justice

The Honourable Bill Blair
Minister of Public Safety
House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0A6
Email the Minister of Public Safety