The Cape Breton Regional Police Service wasted more than $23,000 on unnecessary deployments and security costs during a peaceful protest against Ottawa’s gun confiscation program, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“This was a completely peaceful event and taxpayers still got stuck with a bill for more than $23,000,” said Devin Drover, CTF Atlantic Director and General Counsel. “Shutting down a police station and deploying dozens of officers for a community meeting is a pointless waste of resources.”

Hundreds of Cape Bretoners peacefully gathered to oppose Ottawa’s gun confiscation pilot project in October. Despite the calm and respectful crowd, the police shut down the entire station for the day, spent $653 on privacy security and deployed 26 police officers at a cost of $22,548. None of those units were used and there were no incidents.

This information comes from freedom of information requests filed by the CTF.

“Cape Bretoners showed up in big numbers because they know this gun grab will not make Canadians safer,” said Drover. “Instead of supporting taxpayers like other police officers speaking out across Canada, the police in Cape Breton locked the doors and burned through thousands of dollars.”

Experts continue to warn that Ottawa’s confiscation program will not work.

“It won’t impact crime rates,” said Doug King, professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University.

The National Police Federation, representing RCMP officers, has also warned the scheme “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”

Meanwhile, costs keep climbing. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates compensation alone could reach $756 million, with other experts projecting the final bill rising into the billions.

“This latest example in Cape Breton shows the gun grab is wasting even more taxpayer money before it’s rolled out nationally,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Law-abiding gun owners are clearly not the problem and taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for a program that will not make Canadians safer.”