Another day, another Canadian drug dealer is arrested with illegal drugs while in possession of illegal guns and ammunition contrary to his firearm prohibition order – the result of a past criminal offence.

On Dec. 31, 2020, Paul Alexander Brownlee crashed his vehicle into a ditch off Highway 41 in Laurentian Valley Township.  When the Ontario Provincial Police attended the scene, they discovered an drug-impaired Paul Brownlee behind the wheel. He was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired and released.

His vehicle was impounded and his driver’s license was suspended for 90 days.

On February 16, 2021, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU), Emergency Response Team (ERT) and Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) executed a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) search warrant at a residence on Burchat Road in North Algona Wilberforce (NAW) Township.

As a result of that search, Paul Alexander Brownlee was arrested for possession of fentanyl for the purposes of trafficking and possession an illegal gun and ammunition, as well as ‘property obtained by crime.’

Brownlee was prohibited from possessing firearms at the time of his latest arrest.

This time Mr. Brownlee was held until his bail hearing – it’s a start – although the results of that bail hearing did not make the news so I don’t know if he was released or not.

Warning Flares Repeatedly Ignored by Federal Government

Repeat offenders of firearm prohibition orders are the bright red warning flares that Canada’s firearm prohibition order system is broken.

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.

As you will note on my tracking page for Firearm Prohibition Order Violators, the only way these offenders are discovered is when police arrest them for some other crime. Only after the arrest on other charges do police realise the offender is already subject to a Firearms Prohibition Order.

As shocking as it is to some, a Firearm Prohibition Order is just a useless piece of paper because no policing agency in the nation is tasked with enforcing those orders.

It’s as if the federal government doesn’t care about repeat offenders who use illegal guns to commit their crimes.

Given the recent report that Minister Blair is deeply concerned about ex-convicts being asked if they have a criminal record when applying for a job, I’d say it’s accurate to say the government doesn’t care about repeat offenders or the illegal guns they use in the commission of their crimes.

It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s government policy.

If you feel so inclined…

Please contact Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and encourage him to fix our our broken Firearm Prohibition Order system so repeat violent offenders like Andrew Jason Hudder are not given a free pass to offend again.

Send your letter, postage-free, to:

Minister Marco Mendicino
511 Lawrence Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario M6A 1A3

Telephone: 416-781-5583
Fax: 416-781-5586
Email: marco.mendicino@parl.gc.ca