TORONTO — A discussion about potential handgun bans was stamped out shortly after it began during a closed meeting on Tuesday between GTA police chiefs, mayors, regional chairs, federal and provincial representatives on efforts to tackle gun and gang violence.

“I will just say that it was discussed very briefly, because it started to head down a road of those who were talking about existing laws, and the effectiveness of different kinds of things that one could do. And so we didn’t give in to discussing it,” Toronto Mayor John Tory, who hosted the meeting, told reporters. Tory has been among vocal supporters of handgun prohibitions within the city.

His view remained the same, Tory stressed, but the meeting had procured a “much better discussion” by focusing on the proliferation of guns flowing across the Canada-U.S. border illegally. “We decided to focus ourselves on the thing that represented the biggest share of the problem,” Tory said. The approximately 20 per cent of guns that were found to be sourced domestically were “still there,” he noted, adding that debate over what to do about that portion would doubtlessly continue.

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As the Toronto mayor spoke, he was flanked by several of the other politicians who sat in on the Tuesday meeting — including Ontario’s Solicitor General, Sylvia Jones. Though the federal Liberals pledged on the campaign trail this fall to give municipalities the power to implement handgun bans locally, that plan will likely require significant cooperation from the provinces and territories.

And so far, the Ontario government under Premier Doug Ford has opposed the idea. Jones reiterated their resistance to handgun prohibitions immediately following Tory’s remarks, noting that she had urged Public Safety Minister Bill Blair last week to focus, instead, on the guns coming across the border. The two liaised during a meeting between federal, provincial and territorial public safety and justice ministers, held in B.C. after the federal Liberals’ cabinet retreat in Winnipeg.

“I just want to reinforce, the numbers from the local police services who were represented today were at 80 per cent. Our provincial numbers show 84 per cent are illegal guns that come across the border,” Jones told reporters on Tuesday morning. “Focus on the 80 per cent of the problem, and we need to actually crack down on that, because that ultimately will keep our communities safer.”

While the various levels of government appear to remain at odds over the handgun ban idea, all of the GTA mayors and regional chairs who were present for the Tuesday meeting issued a collective call to the federal government, asking for three specific areas of action to be reflected in the upcoming budget.

“We can’t do this alone. Property taxes were never meant to fund what amount to social programs,” Tory said. Among asks was a request for an increase in “coordinated” investment in programs within various communities, designed to address the root causes of violence rather than react to it. (Blair noted last week that conversations about community support investments, as well as ammunition restrictions and increasing the ability for border security to intercept illegal weaponry, would have to be part of their pre-budget consultations. No date has yet been announced for the budget’s release.)

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Other asks from the local politicians include increased intelligence sharing, updates to the national criminal intelligence system — “I think it’s from about 1968, and is need of being replaced,” Tory said — and more action around border security, including investments and cooperation with local police services on the subject of illegal gun supply.

And on the legislative side, the group is pushing for swift changes by the governing Liberals to federal law concerning bail and sentencing for firearms offences, in order to cut down on repeated arrests of the same individuals while out on bail.

“I think you will find us, as one, saying to the federal government, who have indicated some interest in looking at this — do it now. Treat it as a priority. We cannot have people in effect thumbing their nose at the system, or us facilitating their thumbing the nose at the system through either inadequate laws or inadequate administration of those laws,” Tory said.

Jones noted that increasing reverse-onus provisions was one area they saw opportunity to update the Criminal Code. Doing so shifts the burden of proof onto a charged individual to demonstrate why they should be awarded bail in their case.

But while MP Joel Lightbound, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Blair, said after the meeting that the feds were currently exploring the idea — it, too, was floated at last week’s federal-provincial-territorial ministers’ meeting in B.C., he said — he stopped short of saying the Liberals were committed to Criminal Code amendments, when asked.

“There was already reverse onus for many gun offences in the Criminal Code, but we’re interested in modernizing, so we’re listening,” Lightbound told reporters. “The Minister met with his provincial and territorial counterparts last week, and now we’re hearing from mayors, from chiefs, and I think that’s all going to be added up to a look at how we can best serve Canadians and make it safer by modernizing.”

“We’re in listening mode, at this point,” Lightbound added.

Tory then appealed for haste from Ottawa.

“We need these changes to the laws, now. And, we know, we’re criticized often — and rightly so — for things that we do that take a long time,” the Toronto mayor said. “But we need those changes now … we know that legislation changing through Parliament, whether it’s the criminal code or anything else, takes years. And we can’t afford years.”

The federal government is expected to reveal new details about planned gun-control measures sometime in the coming weeks, per statements from both Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during last week’s cabinet retreat in Manitoba.