Trudeau promises more gun control and goes on the attack against Scheer

[IronNoggin]

Carney Blames Smuggled Firearms for Gun Violence, Shifting Focus From Domestic Gun Control

The previous Liberal government’s focus in reducing gun violence had been to ban a vast array of previously legal firearms and implement a buyback scheme, but Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke on a different priority this week to tackle the problem.

During an unrelated press conference in Hamilton on July 16, Carney echoed what Conservatives and police officials and associations have been saying about what is a core problem of gun violence: smuggled firearms from the United States.

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre and gun rights advocates have called for the government to use resources to tackle that issue instead of confiscating legal firearms owned by licensed owners.

During the press conference, Carney was asked by reporters about shootings in Hamilton in recent months leading to the death of innocent bystanders, and what his government intends to do about it.

Belinda Sarkodie, 26, was killed on July 11 as the suspect identified by police, 17-year-old Mackale Lavoie, was allegedly firing shots at other individuals.

Carney expressed his condolences to the victims and families and said his government is putting a “huge emphasis” on better controlling the border.

“Because I suspect, and we'll see when this individual is caught, that the gun came from the United States,” Carney said.

He said the “vast majority” of illegal firearms and firearms used in crime “come across our border.”

Strengthening the border and working on prevention were part of measures implemented by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but his gun control agenda was heavily focused on banning models of firearms and prohibiting the purchase and transfer of handguns by licensed Canadians.

Buyback

Following the April 2020 mass shooting in Portapique, N.S., Ottawa banned hundreds of rifle models and has kept adding to the list. The killer had illegally sourced his firearms from the United States.

The government has called the rifles to be banned “assault-style” and “weapons of war.”
Government Bill C-21 adopted in 2023 has also created an evergreen definition to automatically ban new models of semi-automatic firearms.

The buyback/confiscation program for newly designated prohibited firearms got underway in late 2024, with the first phase directed at businesses.

Shortly before Carney became prime minister in mid-March, the Trudeau government had announced the gun buyback for individuals would begin in spring 2025.

Public Safety Canada, based on incomplete data because the absence of a firearms registry, has estimated the cost of the program at over $340 million.

As of mid-July, the buyback phase for individuals has not yet started. During the election campaign, Carney pledged he would not only keep the program but that he would be “reinvigorating” it and “quickly putting it into action.”

“We are committed to this and we'll get it done,” he said in April while flanked by then-Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost. Provost, who was elected MP in the Montreal area on April 28, is a survivor from the Polytechnique massacre and a longtime gun control advocate.

Since then, signals sent or not sent by the new Liberal government about the buyback have been mixed.
On the occasion of the National Day Against Gun Violence on June 6, Carney issued a statement that listed a number of actions being taken by his government.

Among those, the prime minister mentioned the introduction of government Bill C-2 to strengthen borders, as well as measures implemented to intercept illegal guns coming across the border. He also said Ottawa would move ahead to revoke firearms licences from those convicted of intimate partner violence.

There was no mention of the gun buyback.

The program has been very slow to roll out and has met various obstacles, such as Canada Post refusing at one point to be involved in the program, fearing potential conflict with gun owners frustrated by confiscation.

The Liberal government alluded to another hold-up in June apparently emanating from the RCMP.

“We will soon be meeting with people from the RCMP firearm warehouse for further discussions, and we will seek to understand concerns surrounding the program,” Liberal MP Jacques Ramsay told the House of Commons during question period on June 13. Ramsay serves as the parliamentary secretary to the public safety minister.

Ramsay said that 12,000 firearms had been collected from businesses and that 10,000 of them have been destroyed as part of the first phase. He called the buyback a “serious program” that “provides fair compensation to businesses and will soon provide it to firearm owners.”

Ramsay was responding to a question from Tory MP Gerald Soroka, who said that gun crimes have significantly increased since Ottawa put its ban into place five years ago.

“Why won’t this Liberal government focus on criminals, make our streets safe, and leave our responsible firearms owners alone?” he said.

Politics

Carney could take a hit from his base by delaying the implementation of the buyback, but it wouldn’t be the first move that runs counter to the direction of the previous government. Carney scrapped the consumer carbon tax immediately after taking office, and his Bill C-5 on major projects is running into indigenous opposition.

On the other hand, the buyback is not popular in Western provinces where Carney has tried to mend fences.

Blaming the United States for Canada’s gun violence could also be more politically convenient as the country is facing tariffs because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated concerns about border security.

The beefing up of the border by Canada in recent months has been a direct response to Trump’s policy.

Aside from stopping illegal firearms at the border, Carney said in Hamilton his government will address gun violence by introducing legislation in the fall for bail reform. The Liberal Party also made pledges on that matter during the election campaign.

“We’re working with the provinces on those issues. I'll be meeting with the premiers next week, I’m sure that’s one of the elements that we will discuss,” he said.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world...fting-focus-from-domestic-gun-control-5888430

 

[IronNoggin]

CBC so a somewhat biased report, but it does describe the Firearms Reference Table, or FRT reasonably well:

'It's a paperweight now': Why the Mounties' ban of popular rifle led to so much pushback

Rules determining which guns are allowed unpopular with both manufacturers and gun control groups

http://https//www.cbc.ca/news/canad...elody-philistin-jr-cox-frt-firearms-1.7587818

 

[IronNoggin]

Mark Carney should add the gun buyback program to his kill list​

Prime Minister Mark Carney wasted no time in axing a signature Justin Trudeau policy the moment he took on the job. It wasn’t that the carbon tax was bad policy, per se, or focused on the wrong target or poorly administered or needlessly bureaucratic. Indeed, Mr. Carney was broadly supportive of carbon pricing as a mechanism to curb greenhouse gas emissions right up until the moment he got the words “Right Honourable” added to his stationery.

The problem with the carbon tax, as we all know, was that it was deeply unpopular in Canada, so the new Prime Minister had no choice but to kill it if he wanted to keep his job.

Since then, Mr. Carney has demonstrated he doesn’t feel particularly wedded to the policies, procedures and perspectives of his predecessor. In 2023, Mr. Trudeau stood in the House of Commons and accused the Indian government of orchestrating the killing of a Sikh leader on Canadian soil. In 2025, Mr. Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 in Alberta. For years, Mr. Trudeau lectured the country about Canada’s obligation to welcome and resettle refugees. A month after winning the federal election, Mr. Carney tabled a bill to significantly restrict eligibility criteria for refugees who wish to claim asylum. In 2024, Mr. Trudeau implemented a Digital Services Tax (DST) despite threats of trade retaliation from the U.S. Earlier this week, Mr. Carney cancelled the DST in response to trade retaliation from the U.S.

The value of each decision can be debated on its own merits, but it’s clear that Mr. Carney doesn’t feel compelled to follow the course chartered by Mr. Trudeau. So as long as he’s intent, as he says, on pursuing a more efficient, more effective, less ideological type of governance, there’s one Trudeau-era policy that should rise to the top of his hit list: the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program.

The government’s plan to buy back thousands of legally owned firearms has been a boondoggle from the moment it was announced. In the wake of a horrific mass killing in Nova Scotia in 2020, the Trudeau government declared it was banning what it called “military-style assault rifles,” which is not an actual firearms designation in Canada. The shooter in that case had not obtained the weapons he used legally, meaning that a ban of this sort would not have prevented his rampage.

Carney unveils public-safety proposals, plans to launch gun-buyback program

Nevertheless, the issue was so urgent, according to the government, that it couldn’t wait for legislation to be passed in Parliament; instead, the government issued an order-in-council to “remove dangerous firearms designed for military use from our communities.” Five years on, not a single one of those dangerous firearms has been collected from an individual license-holder (though 12,195 guns have been collected from businesses as of April 30). The program managed to spend $67.2-million by 2024, before it collected a single gun, and is now projected to cost $459.8-million in 2025-2026. (The Parliamentary Budget Office estimated in 2021 that the total cost could be over $750-million, plus administrative costs.)

Those costs would be defensible if there was some evidence – any evidence – that confiscating the guns prohibited in 2020 (and later, in 2024 and 2025) would meaningfully reduce rates of violent crimes involving firearms. But we know that the vast majority of violent crimes are being committed with illegal firearms; the Toronto Police Service has long reported that the majority of weapons seized by authorities have been smuggled in from the U.S. According to Statistics Canada, in 91 per cent of solved homicides in 2023, the shooter did not have a valid license for the firearm used.

Then there are the ongoing logistical challenges about how guns and gun components will be submitted for compensation. Canada Post is currently participating in the first phase of the buyback program by collecting and shipping prohibited firearms from businesses, but it has refused to take part in the second phase in which firearms will be collected from individuals, citing safety concerns. The federal government might thus have to engage local and provincial police forces, as well as the RCMP, to set up dropoff depots akin to those used by New Zealand during its buyback program (which it announced and completed within the span of one year, though gun crimes continue to rise there).

Mr. Carney didn’t hesitate to kill a defensible policy in the carbon tax. The proposed buyback program, by contrast, isn’t defensible by any measure: it targets the wrong weapons, legally owned by the wrong people, to try to tackle a problem it will absolutely not address. It is already overly bureaucratic, incredibly complicated, and exorbitantly expensive, but the one thing it has going for it is that it sounds good. Who wouldn’t want to ban deadly weapons, after all? Indeed, it’s the antithesis of the carbon tax in that sense, but the buyback program is equally deserving – and arguably, much more deserving – of a spot in the Trudeau-era trash heap.

Opinion: Mark Carney should add the gun buyback program to his kill list

Program targets the wrong things in trying to tackle a problem it will not address

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[IronNoggin]

The quiet kill shot​

'Don't like the gun grab? Here's how to tell Ottawa.'

While headlines scream about the rising cost of groceries, power bills, and climate policy flops, something subtler is brewing in Ottawa: a quiet retreat from the Trudeau-era firearms ban.

The 2025 Liberal Pre-Budget Consultation survey offers Canadians an opportunity to influence the Mark Carney government’s public spending priorities.

For gun owners, hunters, sport shooters, and those who care about evidence-based public safety policy, Question 3 is the battlefield. It invites Canadians to choose which federal priorities deserve funding. Among the options? “Completing the firearms buyback program.”

Trudeau’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme is an expensive political stunt that has already lost credibility in the eyes of the media, economists, and even elements within the Liberal Party itself.

We suggest checking one to three of the following options for Question 3:

Investing in the Canadian Armed Forces

Recruiting more RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency personnel to strengthen border security and combat organized crime

Make bail policies stricter for violent and major crimes

Investing in Canada’s Arctic

Making dual-use investments which serve defence as well as civilian readiness such as airports, ports, telecommunication and emergency preparedness systems

Building up Canada’s defence industries

The Globe and Mail published a surprising op-ed from Robyn Urback calling Ottawa’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme indefensible, exorbitantly expensive, and politically toxic.

“The proposed buyback program, by contrast [with the carbon tax],” Urback writes, “isn’t defensible by any measure: it targets the wrong weapons, legally owned by the wrong people, to try to tackle a problem it will absolutely not address. It is already overly bureaucratic, incredibly complicated, and exorbitantly expensive.”

Mark Carney is no fool. He’s watching the backlash. He knows how to read political wind. When Liberal-friendly media breaks ranks, government policy shifts soon follow. And if gutting this program saves political capital for more “climate initiatives,” he’ll do it in a heartbeat.

After all, this is the same man who’d bankrupt the country on carbon credits while suddenly pretending to be frugal over a $600-million gun control budget.

Sacrificing Quebec’s dairy cartel shows a bigger game. On the same day as the Pre-Budget Survey was announced, the Liberals softened their stance on long-standing dairy protections. Quebec’s dairy quotas were untouchable for decades, yet today they’re being sacrificed on the altar of trade with New Zealand. If the dairy cartel can be cracked, so can the sacred cow of “gun control saves lives.”

Especially when even Liberal supporters admit it doesn’t.

The Western Standard suggests those of our readers who support legal, responsible gun ownership, consider what our friends at the Canadian Sport Shooters Association are recommending and complete the Pre-Budget Consultation Survey, paying close attention as advised above, to the options in Question 3 of the survey, to be found here.

BERNARDO: The quiet kill shot

While headlines scream about the rising costs of groceries, power bills, and climate policy flops, something subtler is brewing in Ottawa: a quiet retreat from the Trudeau-era firearms ban.

www.westernstandard.news

 

[IronNoggin]

Despite federal crackdown, firearms licencing hits all-time high in Canada

A new report from the RCMP reveals that the number of Canadians holding a government-issued firearms licence reached an all-time high in 2024.

In Dec. 2024, there were 2,412,122 Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) holders in Canada, representing a 2.5% increase from 2,352,504 in December 2023.

Every province recorded growth, with Alberta and Ontario leading the way, each seeing a 3.3% rise in licence holders. Alberta added 12,006 new PAL holders, while Ontario saw an increase of 22,356.

According to TheGunBlog.ca, more Canadian adults now hold a PAL than play hockey. The demographic makeup of licence holders remains largely male — 85% — with 15% being women.

Firearms ownership has been deeply embedded in Canadian culture for years, tied to traditions such as hunting, sport shooting, collecting, and self-defence.

Some advocates argue that this cultural significance, combined with government restrictions, may be fuelling a growing interest in gun ownership.

“More and more people are discovering how enjoyable shooting is as a pastime,” Tony Bernardo, the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, told the Western Standard.

“You’ve got an increasing movement of young people hunting because they’re trying to provide food for their families that isn’t full of preservatives and hormones.”

Despite a recent Statistics Canada report saying police-reported crime dropped for the first time in 2024 since the COVID-19 pandemic, Bernardo believes that violent crime still plays a major role in the PAL increase

“People have realized that the government is not capable of adequately defending you. There’s an old saying, ‘when seconds count, police are minutes away,’” he said.

The PAL is the sole licence issued to new adult firearms applicants in Canada.

In total, 142,332 adults obtained their first PAL in 2024 — resulting in a net increase of 59,618 licences, significantly above the 10-year average annual gain of about 40,000.

Licensing figures show:

• 1,598,112 PALs with non-restricted privileges
• 775,266 with restricted privileges (up 3.1% from 752,002)
• 38,739 with prohibited privileges
• 13,505 minor’s licences
• 4,033 licensed firearms businesses (excluding museums and carriers)

These numbers stand in contrast to the federal Liberal government’s continued efforts to restrict legal gun ownership.

A key element of that agenda is the National Firearms Buy-Back Program, introduced in the wake of the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.

That program has faced strong criticism from many sectors. In a recent opinion column for The Globe and Mail, Robyn Urback described it as a “boondoggle,” pointing out that five years after the program was announced, no firearms had been collected from individual licence holders.

She went on to say, as of April 30, 2024, “only 12,195 firearms had been turned in by businesses. The program had already cost $67.2 million by 2024 and is projected to reach $459.8 million by 2025–2026, with earlier estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Office putting the total cost at over $750 million, plus administrative expenses.”

Critics also question the effectiveness of the program, noting that most violent gun crimes in Canada are committed with illegal firearms.

Statistics Canada reports that in 91% of solved homicides in 2023, the shooter did not have a valid firearms licence.

Also, the Toronto Police Service has long reported that the majority of seized firearms are smuggled into Canada from the United States.

Despite — or perhaps because of — the federal government's crackdown, interest in legal firearm ownership appears to be growing, with Bernardo saying the police and the federal government are working together using the Firearms Reference Table (FRT) to ban more firearms individually and arbitrarily.

“The courts have ruled [the FRT] has no weight in law,” Bernardo said. “Yet, the RCMP and the Liberal government are using it like it’s some kind of legal decree. They’re prosecuting with it. They can arbitrarily take any firearm and instantly turn it into a prohibited gun.

“It’s the most heinous abuse of law I can ever remember seeing.”

With the number of PAL holders steadily climbing, and new bans and confiscations planned by the government for 2025 — such as the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program — observers suggest Canada could see even higher numbers of PAL holders in the near future.

Despite federal crackdown, firearms licencing hits all-time high in Canada

A new report from the RCMP reveals that the number of Canadians holding a government-issued firearms licence reached an all-time high in 2024.

www.westernstandard.news

 

[IronNoggin]

Forget the gun ban rhetoric, the numbers tell the truth​

'While the Liberal government sinks billions into policies that punish the innocent, everyday Canadians are quietly doing the opposite.'

The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, more Canadians than ever earned their Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs,) and that’s good news for public safety, no matter what the politicians say.

“The number of adults in Canada with a government-approved gun licence rose to a new high in 2024,” writes Nicolas Johnson, “again defying the Liberal Party-led administration’s actions to criminalize gun users and confiscate our gear.”

This five-year surge in lawful firearms ownership reflects a growing interest in firearms and Canadian gun culture, and it’s driven by factors ranging from personal safety to sport shooting to hunting.

While the Liberal government sinks billions into policies that punish the innocent, everyday Canadians are quietly doing the opposite.

They’re getting trained.

They’re choosing responsibility over political rhetoric.

They’re joining Canada’s culture of safety because they want to preserve our heritage for future generations.

Let’s be crystal clear.

The government doesn’t hand out Possession and Acquisition Licences like Costco cards.

You must pass thorough background checks, safety training courses, and legal scrutiny.

If you successfully jump through all these hoops, only then can you join the community of Canadians who own firearms, use them responsibly, and obey the law.

This 5 year surge in PAL holders, especially in Alberta and Ontario, isn’t a fluke.

It’s a statement.

“We care about public safety. We believe in personal responsibility. And we’re not buying the lie that only criminals use guns.”

Contrary to media myths, licensed Canadian firearms owners are the most vetted citizens in the country. The increase in PALs reflects a growing tribe of responsible Canadians who value tradition, safety, and personal responsibility.

They’re not the ones fueling gun crime.

That blame lies with gun smugglers, gang violence, and a justice system more concerned with virtue-signaling than victim protection.

In rural communities, a PAL is more than a hobby.

It’s sometimes a necessity.

Whether it’s for hunting, predator control, or simply being prepared when law enforcement is miles away, firearms ownership meets real, tangible needs.

These aren’t vigilantes. They’re stewards of safety, accountability, and education.

Gun clubs, sports shooting leagues, and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association are building communities rooted in training, responsibility, legal literacy, and mutual respect.

That’s what true public safety looks like. Not billion-dollar bans.

While Ottawa plays politics, Canadians are doing the responsible work. They’re becoming more educated, more trained, and more engaged.

As Calibre Magazine rightly put it, the Liberal gun bans “have all been a colossal failure.”

What hasn’t failed?

Canadians who refuse to be disarmed by virtue signaling ideology.

Canadians who refuse to trade responsibility for false security.

The record high number of PAL holders in 2024 is a positive development for Canada, not a problem.

It reflects a growing community of responsible, law abiding citizens who prioritize safety, education, and compliance; a community who understands that real public safety is built on trust, not fear.

BERNARDO: Forget the gun ban rhetoric, the numbers tell the truth

The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, more Canadians than ever earned their Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs), and that’s good news for public safety, no matter what the politicians say.

www.westernstandard.news

 

[Fishing?]

Forget the gun ban rhetoric, the numbers tell the truth​

'While the Liberal government sinks billions into policies that punish the innocent, everyday Canadians are quietly doing the opposite.'

The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, more Canadians than ever earned their Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs,) and that’s good news for public safety, no matter what the politicians say.

“The number of adults in Canada with a government-approved gun licence rose to a new high in 2024,” writes Nicolas Johnson, “again defying the Liberal Party-led administration’s actions to criminalize gun users and confiscate our gear.”

This five-year surge in lawful firearms ownership reflects a growing interest in firearms and Canadian gun culture, and it’s driven by factors ranging from personal safety to sport shooting to hunting.

While the Liberal government sinks billions into policies that punish the innocent, everyday Canadians are quietly doing the opposite.

They’re getting trained.

They’re choosing responsibility over political rhetoric.

They’re joining Canada’s culture of safety because they want to preserve our heritage for future generations.

Let’s be crystal clear.

The government doesn’t hand out Possession and Acquisition Licences like Costco cards.

You must pass thorough background checks, safety training courses, and legal scrutiny.

If you successfully jump through all these hoops, only then can you join the community of Canadians who own firearms, use them responsibly, and obey the law.

This 5 year surge in PAL holders, especially in Alberta and Ontario, isn’t a fluke.

It’s a statement.

“We care about public safety. We believe in personal responsibility. And we’re not buying the lie that only criminals use guns.”

Contrary to media myths, licensed Canadian firearms owners are the most vetted citizens in the country. The increase in PALs reflects a growing tribe of responsible Canadians who value tradition, safety, and personal responsibility.

They’re not the ones fueling gun crime.

That blame lies with gun smugglers, gang violence, and a justice system more concerned with virtue-signaling than victim protection.

In rural communities, a PAL is more than a hobby.

It’s sometimes a necessity.

Whether it’s for hunting, predator control, or simply being prepared when law enforcement is miles away, firearms ownership meets real, tangible needs.

These aren’t vigilantes. They’re stewards of safety, accountability, and education.

Gun clubs, sports shooting leagues, and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association are building communities rooted in training, responsibility, legal literacy, and mutual respect.

That’s what true public safety looks like. Not billion-dollar bans.

While Ottawa plays politics, Canadians are doing the responsible work. They’re becoming more educated, more trained, and more engaged.

As Calibre Magazine rightly put it, the Liberal gun bans “have all been a colossal failure.”

What hasn’t failed?

Canadians who refuse to be disarmed by virtue signaling ideology.

Canadians who refuse to trade responsibility for false security.

The record high number of PAL holders in 2024 is a positive development for Canada, not a problem.

It reflects a growing community of responsible, law abiding citizens who prioritize safety, education, and compliance; a community who understands that real public safety is built on trust, not fear.

BERNARDO: Forget the gun ban rhetoric, the numbers tell the truth

The numbers don’t lie. In 2024, more Canadians than ever earned their Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs), and that’s good news for public safety, no matter what the politicians say.

www.westernstandard.news

The Liberal aim was for Canada to become Shangri-la it seems.

Between the Trudeaus and Chretian I think they have spent over 4 billion dollars, 2 billion to not register any guns at all and now this with the buy backs yet to happen.

In gun crimes there is no reporting of where these guns, especially where hand guns are coming from or if they are owned by the people using them that way.

What would ordinary Canadians want? The end of catch and release or one guy in 12,000 having his rifle taken away? I bet more people have been seriously hurt by catch a released criminals than any shootings by law abiding gun owners.

 

[IronNoggin]

Liberal firearms policy: Punish the lawful, ignore the criminal​

How Ottawa’s firearms policy targets responsible Canadians while ignoring violent criminals

When Ottawa spends billions attacking the people who already obey the law, you have to wonder if public safety was ever their goal.

From Victoria, British Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, law-abiding Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) holders watch Ottawa waste more resources, strip more rights from lawful Canadians, and protect more violent criminals from prosecution and incarceration while calling it, in true Orwellian fashion, “public safety.”

Illegal guns keep flowing across our southern border, violent crime keeps rising, and trust in federal institutions keeps dying.

For Mark Carney’s Liberal government, like Justin Trudeau’s before it, this is “business as usual.”

The truth that politicians and “gun control” advocates love to ignore is that PAL holders are vetted, trained, and monitored more closely than police recruits. Statistically, they’re safer citizens than sworn police officers.

Yet they are the ones losing property, livelihoods, and in some cases the ability to feed their families.

In rural Alberta, a rifle isn’t a symbol. It’s a tool for food, for work, and for sport and a tangible example of rural culture and tradition.

On August 3, 2025, Alberta legalized .22 calibre centrefire firearms for big game hunting.

This wasn’t just a hunting policy change, it was a message.

Ottawa may ignore the rights of responsible gun owners, but Alberta will not.

As the byelection in Battle River–Crowfoot gets closer, voters referred to the federal government’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme honestly, something the federal government and its bureaucrats cannot.

"It's a gong show" because the political machine treats hunters and sport shooters like criminals-in-waiting.

Illegal guns and those who smuggle them into Canada, the real drivers of criminal violence committed with guns, remain untouched.

Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted.

Trust in government and police agencies destroyed.

A once-thriving Canadian firearms industry dismantled.

It’s political theatre at its worst.

Every PAL holder, to receive their firearms licence, must pass written and practical safety training tests, RCMP background checks, and screening of past and current romantic relationships.

They are also continuously monitored by the RCMP via the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) system.

Here’s how continuous screening works.

Every PAL holder’s information is kept in the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) system.

The RCMP runs daily automated checks through CPIC to see if a licence holder has been charged with or convicted of certain offences, is subject to a court order, or has run afoul of other eligibility issues.

If a match comes up, the CFP alerts the Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) for that province/territory, who can review the case and, if necessary, suspend or revoke an individual’s firearms licence.

Criminals skip all of it, yet Ottawa keeps tightening the screws on those who comply with the law, not those who break it.

“As of 2024, Canada has about 250 more homicides per year than it did in 2014, before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister,” writes Kostas Moros.

“According to Statistics Canada, homicides steadily rose almost every single year Trudeau was in office, finally falling slightly in 2023 and 2024 (while falling even more in the US in that time frame). The obvious lesson for Americans: never make the same mistake as our gullible neighbours to the north.”

Canada’s gun laws oppress lawful owners without reducing crime.

In 2014, firearms lawyer Ed Burlew confirmed with Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney that the RCMP’s Firearms Reference Table had no authority in law.

Burlew’s brief on the CZ-858 and Swiss Arms rifles caused the RCMP to change the language on the FRT to state it is not law, that it’s only an opinion.

The Chief Judge in the recent Federal Court of Appeal decision confirmed that the FRT is not law and has no effect in law.

That doesn’t stop the RCMP and other police agencies from using that RCMP “opinion” to charge unsuspecting firearms owners and “let the courts sort it out.”

The process is the punishment, as we’ve said many times before, and police brass don’t seem to care so long as their statistics look good.

If the federal Liberal government truly wanted public safety. It would target illegal gun trafficking and gang violence, respect lawful owners, increase regulatory transparency, support regional realities, and clarify self-defence rights and the applicable sections of the Criminal Code.

The Liberal government has no desire for any of those measures, reinforcing the belief that they’re not now, nor have they ever been interested in true public safety measures.

If you’re tired of being the government’s scapegoat, speak up. Refuse to be silent. Because silence is exactly what Ottawa is counting on.

Talk with your friends. Share with your neighbours. Take them to the range and show them what true Canadian gun culture looks like.

Educate everyone within your personal sphere of influence about the truth about Canada’s firearms laws, and how politicians use lies, damned lies, and statistics to mislead voters at election time.

In the battle for public opinion, educating people about the truth is our greatest weapon.

Tony Bernardo is the Executive Director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association

BERNARDO: Liberal firearms policy: Punish the lawful, ignore the criminal

When Ottawa spends billions attacking the people who already obey the law, you have to wonder if public safety was ever their goal.

www.westernstandard.news

 

[IronNoggin]

Chopping gun confiscation program a good place to start cutting government spending​

If Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking for ways to save money, he can start by shooting fish in a barrel: He can scrap the gun confiscation program that law enforcement leaders and academic experts say won’t work.

Carney’s government says it’s working super hard on a spending review. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the rest of cabinet to come up with “ambitious savings proposals” to control government outlay.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree doesn’t have to hunt very far for his savings proposal; all he needs to do is cancel Ottawa’s gun confiscation scheme and save taxpayers potentially billions of dollars.

The letter from Champagne called on ministers to assess “whether existing programs within their departments are meeting their objectives.” And in the case of Ottawa’s gun confiscation and payment program, that’s a big fat no.

All the scheme has accomplished so far is increasing costs to taxpayers. And that’s all that it looks likely to do.

When Ottawa originally announced its buyback program in 2020, the government banned 1,500 different makes and models of guns. After additional waves of bans, the list now contains more than 2,000 different models.

The feds have only recently started to seize firearms from businesses, and the government has yet to take a single firearm away from individual gun owners.

The government said in 2019 that the program would cost $200 million. Now it has decided to spend more than $342 million on the program just this year, according to the Main Estimates. Some other projections by firearm policy experts put the total cost to taxpayers at $6 billion. Scrapping the program today would allow the government to cut its losses and stop wasting any more money on this unsuccessful venture.

The government’s plan to seize guns from licensed Canadian firearm owners is a colossal failure from every angle.

It’s not a failure just because it was designed incorrectly and needs more work, it’s a failure because it was never going to work in the first place. That’s because those individuals who are willing to commit crimes with guns aren’t going to participate in a government program to take their firearms away.

That’s simple logic, but it also echoes what the facts and the experts are saying.

“Buyback programs are largely ineffective at reducing gun violence, in large part because the people who participate in such programs are not likely to use those guns to commit violence,” said University of Toronto professor Jooyoung Lee, who studies gun violence in Canada.

The police are saying the same thing.

“The majority of gun crime in Canada is committed with illegal firearms that are traced back to the United States,” said Brian Sauvé, the president of the National Police Federation (NPF), the union that represents the RCMP.

The NPF also says that Ottawa’s confiscation program “diverts extremely important personnel, resources and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”

Since the government made it illegal for Canadians to use the banned firearms in 2020, gun crime in Canada has increased.

The government of New Zealand took guns away from its citizens in 2019, and its ban was even more far-reaching than Ottawa’s. There were 379 more violent firearm offences in 2023 in New Zealand, compared with 2018, the year before its confiscation program began.

Canadians don’t believe this program is the most effective way to reduce gun crime either. Fifty-five per cent of Canadians think introducing tougher measures to stop the smuggling of guns into Canada from the United States is the most effective way to reduce gun crime, according to Leger polling.

Ottawa’s gun confiscation is expensive, it’s failing to achieve its goals and Canadians don’t think it’s likely to work.

So, when Anandasangaree presents his plan for savings to Champagne, scrapping the gun ban and confiscation scheme should be at the top of his list.

Gage Haubrich: Chopping gun confiscation program a good place to start cutting government spending

The Liberal government’s plan to seize guns from licensed firearm owners has been a colossal failure from every angle

ca.news.yahoo.com

 

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Gun-control advocates fear Mark Carney will delay buyback program.​

OTTAWA—Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss?
The Liberal government vowed once more in the April election campaign that it will finally complete its long-delayed plan to buy back more than a 100,000 long guns it has banned across the country. But Prime Minister Mark Carney is all but certain to need one more deadline extension.

Ottawa appears to be moving ahead with efforts to get police forces, or anyone else, to take on the task of collecting the weapons from gun owners, but with no plan announced yet and a looming deadline, stakeholders and insiders expect the government to push back for a third time the amnesty order that protects the owners of more than 2,000 variants of "assault-style" weapons that were banned in 2020.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in the House of Commons in the spring the Liberals would not complete the collection of guns by the October amnesty deadline, though he would only say the Carney government was "looking at options," when pressed by Conservative MPs. His office did not return a request for comment in time for publication.

Now, the risk of another delay and the challenges facing Ottawa, are prompting questions about what happens next with this key component of the federal government's gun control plan.

"It's very hard for us to understand or to justify why it would take this long," said Ken Price, an advocate with Danforth Families for Safe Communities.

"We had a long emotional roller coaster for about five years where this was kicked around by all kinds of groups and testimonies and committees, in both the Commons and the Senate, and we came through the product of an imperfect, but a way better situation than we had before. And we would like to see the government act on it, with priority."

Following the mass killing of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020, the Liberals promised a nationwide buyback program as part of a sweeping ban of “assault-style” firearms. Since then, the program has been mired in delays and has faced fierce opposition from Conservatives federally and provincially, including legislation in Alberta and Saskatchewan that could complicate efforts for Ottawa to confiscate the banned guns.

During the election, Carney promised to "reinvigorate" the buyback program he said had been poorly organized and accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of wanting "American-style gun laws" for opposing it.

But since the election, Carney has refrained from promoting the program. In June, on the National Day Against Gun Violence, Carney's statement made no reference to the gun ban and the buy back. And last month at an announcement in Hamilton, Carney was asked about public safety after two fatal shootings in the community and did not mention the program.

"One of the things the federal government is doing, and we are, making a huge emphasis on this, is to control our border better," Carney told the local reporter. "Because I suspect, and we'll see when this individual is caught, that that gun came from the United States."
"The vast majority of firearms, illegal firearms, foreign firearms used in crime, come across our border," he added.

If the Liberals are moving forward with the program, they're doing so with less fanfare than the Trudeau government.

Anandasangaree has said Ottawa is targeting a fall start to the second phase, after just over 12,000 firearms were seized in the initial phase targeted at businesses. He estimated around 180,000 guns will be collected, though gun lobby groups have said hundreds of thousands more are affected under the regulations put forward by the government. Nearly $600 million is budgeted over the next three years for the program, a figure much higher than originally committed to and that critics say does not account for administrative costs. Around $70 million had already been spent before a single gun was collected as of last year.

That's money the head of Toronto's police union says could be better used elsewhere.

"In the City of Toronto, which is the focal point for a lot of the conversation around gun violence, it will have little to zero impact on firearm crime we're seeing in the city," said Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association. "It is a small number of gang or organized crime members involved in firearm violence in the city, and it is not legal gun owners."

And collecting the guns has proven difficult. After Canada Post refused to collect guns, citing safety concerns for its staff, the federal government has turned to police forces and the RCMP in hopes uniformed officers would be able to pick up banned guns from their owners, the Star has reported. But just two deals have been made public: $2.8 million to the Winnipeg Police Service and $100,000 to the Cape Breton Region Police Service. Both deals expire at the end of March 2026.

And to highlight the challenges ahead, separatist sentiment is bubbling in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where the gun bans are seen as emblematic of a perception that Ottawa has a disdain for the West. And a federally-commissioned survey conducted in the last months of the Trudeau government warned a lack of government trust could result in non-compliance by gun owners.

"They're going to say to the policemen that come to the door, 'No, you can't have them. I legally bought them. I legally paid for them with my money, and I've complied by every law since the day I got them. And I'm not giving them to you,'" said Tony Bernardo, a spokesman for the Canadian Shooting Sports Association. "What are the police going to do at that point?"

Seeing an opening, the country's biggest gun lobby group is proposing a way to water down the program they say will help the government save face rather than double down on a policy "destined to fail."

Making the case that proposed costs for the program will skyrocket and it will have little public safety benefit, the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights urged Carney in a letter last week not to proceed with the buyback and instead usher in a "grandfathering" system, which was used before and would allow current owners of the banned guns to keep them and use them as they did before while disallowing new ones from entering the market.

Tracey Wilson, the group's head of public relations, told the Star she believes Carney is "more serious" than Trudeau and could be willing to compromise.

"He's going to have a hard time justifying this crazy expense while cutting from all these government departments," Wilson said. "If they're not willing to make concessions, people need to think about the priorities of the government."

Gun-control advocates fear Mark Carney will delay buyback program

An imminent delay, a lack of updates from Ottawa, and Mark Carney's attempts to keep premiers happy, vow to drastically cut spending, and emphasis on border security, are raising questions

www.thestar.com

 

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Liberals to Extend Failing Rifle/Shotgun Confiscations for Third Time, Minister Tells Toronto Star; Alberta “Exploring Various Options”​

Canada’s Liberal Party-led administration will extend its failing mass confiscations targeting government-licensed rifle and shotgun owners for a third time, the Toronto Star reported, citing the minister overseeing the attacks.

“No Later” Than End of 2026

The politically motivated crackdowns unleashed in May 2020 will be completed “no later” than the end of 2026, Minister Gary Anandasangaree told the newspaper in an interview August 18.

The missed deadlines are: 30 April 2022, 30 October 2023, and 30 October 2025.

TheGunBlog.ca reported last year that the Liberals had unofficially abandoned the 2025 deadline.

Mass Confiscations “Very Close” to Starting

Anandasangaree told iPolitics in an interview published August 18:

“We’re getting to a point where we’re very close and, hopefully, starting in mid-September, we’ll be able to roll it out and, ultimately, we’ll have this program completed within a year from its start date.”

Why It Matters

The Liberals are still clueless about how to execute the forced confiscations they have been working on since August 2018.

The attacks are widely opposed by provinces, police and the public for their authoritarianism, lies, and financial waste.

Alberta “Exploring Various Options” to Protect Gun Owners

“Alberta’s government is exploring various options with provincial, territorial, and federal counterparts and external stakeholders to protect law-abiding firearms owners from federal overreach,” a spokesperson for the minister of justice told the Toronto Star in a statement, according to the paper.

Liberals to Extend Failing Rifle/Shotgun Confiscations for Third Time, Minister Tells Toronto Star; Alberta “Exploring Various Options” – TheGunBlog.ca

TheGunBlog.ca — Canada’s Liberals will extend their failing gun confiscations targeting government-licensed rifle and shotgun owners for a third time, the Toron

thegunblog.ca

 

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BERNARDO: Grandfathering is slow-motion confiscation​

Grandfathering is not a compromise. It’s a trap dressed up as tolerance.

“Grandfathering” under Canada’s Firearms Act isn’t a compromise, it’s slow-motion confiscation (without compensation) disguised as mercy.

If Mark Carney’s Liberal government moves away from its current Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme in favour of “grandfathering,” they’ll be keeping confiscation, but dropping any pretense of compensating owners (or their estates) when those guns are eventually confiscated.

Grandfathering is how government silences lawful gun owners while dismantling their property rights, one regulation at a time.

Yes, it technically allows you to keep your firearms. For now.

But what they don’t tell you, with respect to firearms reclassified by the May 2020 Order in Council and others subsequently added to the list by the RCMP, is that for your newly prohibited firearms to be grandfathered, they must first be registered.

Make no mistake. The government is still confiscating your guns.

They’re just shifting the date from 2025 until the day you die, then stealing them from your estate, along with any value they have.

It’s legalized theft.

Firearms aren’t toys. They’re tools. They’re investments. They’re history incarnate. And when you strip away their utility, their value plummets.

Imagine the government walking into your home, slapping a “banned” sticker on your property, and saying, “Yes, you can keep your home for now, but it’s worthless.”

That’s economic punishment for obeying yesterday’s laws.

PAL holders are now criminals-in-waiting.

The red tape is endless.

One missed form, one misunderstood transport rule, and you’re a criminal. Not because you did anything wrong but because the rules changed again.

Grandfathering doesn’t give you peace of mind. It gives you perpetual anxiety and a pile of paperwork you’d better not mess up.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Grandfathering is not forever.

You can’t pass these guns down to your children or grandchildren.

This isn’t good policy.

It’s confiscation.

And it works because we let it.

Grandfathering is not a privilege. It’s a trap.

It’s the slow, quiet confiscation of your guns, disguised as generosity.

You don’t “get to keep” your firearms. You’re being tolerated temporarily until you die.

Wake up. Speak up. Or watch your rights disappear one formerly legal firearm at a time.

Stop believing the lie that you’re “lucky” to still own the firearms you lawfully acquired.

You’re not lucky. You’re living under the threat of confiscation without compensation.

Only they won’t steal your guns from you. They’ll steal them from your spouse, your children, and your grandchildren the moment you leave this mortal coil.

“Grandfathering” isn’t good policy or even a good compromise.

Grandfathering is slow-motion confiscation without compensation.

Anyone who tells you differently is lying.

BERNARDO: Grandfathering is slow-motion confiscation

“Grandfathering” under Canada’s Firearms Act isn’t a compromise, it’s slow-motion confiscation (without compensation) disguised as mercy.

www.westernstandard.news

 

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Carney doubles down on Trudeau-era gun grab

Guest host Kris Sims exposes the Liberals’ billion-dollar gun grab—an attack on private property that won’t stop gang crime.

On today’s episode of The Candice Malcolm Show guest host Kris Sims dives into Ottawa’s gun confiscation plan.

The federal Liberals, with Prime Minister Mark Carney now at the helm, are moving ahead with a billion-dollar program to seize lawfully purchased firearms. Sims explains why this isn’t a “buyback” but outright confiscation of private property—punishing hunters, farmers, and sport shooters while doing nothing to target gang-related crime.

Joining the show is Rod Giltaca, CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, who details the staggering costs, the devastating impact on firearms retailers, and how Ottawa has rejected even modest compromise proposals like grandfathering.

Also on the program, Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell breaks down why frontline officers oppose the scheme. Campbell points out that 90% of crime guns in Toronto come from illegal U.S. smuggling—not law-abiding gun owners—and warns that police resources will be wasted on paperwork instead of tackling gangs and keeping violent repeat offenders behind bars.

Kris highlights the lessons from the failed Long Gun Registry, which ballooned from $2 million to $2 billion, and asks why taxpayers should foot the bill for another boondoggle. Both guests stress that Canadians should be alarmed: this is a reckless assault on property rights, public safety, and common sense.

Starts at the - 20:35 mark:

 

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Poll shows illegal firearms, not legal owners, seen as main threat in Canada

A recent Yahoo News Canada poll has highlighted the shifting public sentiment around gun violence following the tragic death of eight-year-old JahVai Roy in North York, Toronto, who was struck by a stray bullet while in bed with his family.

The incident sparked massive outrage from the public, with renewed calls for tougher action on gun control and public safety being raised, as Toronto officials have struggled with tackling ever-increasing gun crime in the city this year.

Data from police forces across the Greater Toronto Area show that an increasing number of guns used in violent crimes predominantly originate from the United States.

In 2024, the majority of firearms seized by the Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, Durham Regional Police, and Peel Regional Police were traced back to south-of-the-border sources.

Cody, a resident of Alberta, commented on the poll, saying, “it’s not legal gun owners who are the problem; it’s the illegal handguns and guns used by criminals, most of which come from the US.”

Yahoo News Canada surveyed thousands of readers on public safety and firearms regulations.

As of Monday morning, 63% of respondents said they felt gun violence was becoming more common.

A resident of Victoria, BC, shared that the rise in gun crime made them “fear going out, particularly at night,” while another said, “I have moved from Montreal to a smaller city.”

Statistics Canada's most recent report shows that firearm-related violent crime has risen by 55% nationally between 2013 and 2023.

Homicide rates climbed 53.3% between 2014 and 2022 before dropping 14.5% in 2023.

Quebec was the only province that reported a slight decrease in gun-related violence over this period, while provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced increases.

On the topic of firearm regulations, 55% of poll participants said Canada’s ban on assault-style weapons and the current buyback program are “unfair to legal gun owners,” while 41% believe federal regulations are effective in keeping communities safe.

Many respondents argued that the focus should be on criminal activity rather than law-abiding gun owners. Ontario resident Don Ioder told Yahoo that authorities should concentrate “on the illegal guns entering this country.”

This perspective aligns with a May 2025 survey by Leger, which found that most Canadians want Prime Minister Mark Carney to prioritize stopping illegal firearms from entering Canada rather than continuing the gun ban and buyback program.

Ahead of the 2025 federal election, Liberal Party Leader Carney unveiled a public safety plan targeting the smuggling of drugs and firearms from the United States, promising a crackdown on gangs to keep Canadians safe.

Poll shows llegal firearms, not legal owners, seen as main threat in Canada

A recent Yahoo News Canada poll has highlighted the shifting public sentiment around gun violence following the tragic death of eight-year-old JahVai Roy in North York, Toronto, who was struck by a stray bullet while in bed with his family.

www.westernstandard.news

 

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BERNARDO: Wasting resources on lawful gun owners while criminals walk free​

When repeat offenders break every law, why is the government focused on hunters and sport shooters?

Recent remarks from Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell highlight what Canada’s lawful firearms community has argued for years: Ottawa’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Program is political theatre that cannot make our streets safer.

Campbell cut through the rhetoric with one crucial fact: 90% of crime guns seized in Toronto trace back to the United States. The remainder are typically untraceable.

What about legal firearms?

According to Campbell, “I can't think of a time when a legal gun has been used in a crime in this city, not one. It’s not legal gun owners involved in crimes in the city of Toronto. It’s a small number of thugs.”

Any government that claims to base policy on evidence would drop this confiscation program in a heartbeat.

But this Liberal government, like Trudeau’s before it, insists on pouring hundreds of millions into confiscating legally-owned property from vetted, law-abiding citizens while violent criminals walk free under a revolving-door bail system.

The contrast between the government’s priorities and real-world policing is stark and deep.

Lawful owners of restricted and prohibited firearms are among the most vetted of all Canadians. Their guns are registered, stored in safes, and subject to continuous eligibility checks.

These firearms are not fueling gang violence in Toronto or elsewhere.

Meanwhile, criminals smuggle illegal firearms across the US border with relative ease, then use them to settle scores on city streets.

A recent Leger poll confirms that Canadians recognize this reality: 55% want the government to focus on cross-border smuggling. Only 26% support the confiscation of legally-owned guns.

The people, the police on the ground, and even the RCMP’s National Police Federation all agree: targeting lawful gun owners diverts resources from where they’re most urgently needed — stopping the flow of smuggled firearms.

The absurdity of Ottawa’s policy becomes even clearer in light of recent events in Brampton. Peel Regional Police pulled over a vehicle and found a loaded firearm along with drugs.

The man behind the wheel?

Ricardo Dawson, a 32-year-old from Toronto with a lifetime firearms ban due to a prior conviction for possessing an illegal gun.

Think about that.

The accused was already prohibited for life from owning or even touching a firearm.

Yet here he was, allegedly carrying a loaded weapon while also involved in drug activity.

This is the face of “gun crime” in Canada: repeat offenders who flout every law on the books.

No amount of door-to-door confiscation from vetted hunters, collectors, or sport shooters will stop criminals like Dawson. We’re fools to believe otherwise.

But strengthening bail provisions, enforcing existing firearms prohibitions, and ensuring that those who use illegal firearms face certain, serious jail time?

That will.

Campbell is right to call the federal program a “waste of resources.”

Six years and over $100 million later, Ottawa still lacks a clear plan to execute its firearms confiscation scheme.

Not one firearm has been collected from licensed owners.

Meanwhile, Canadian cities continue to face rising violent crime from the very people that our judicial system repeatedly releases back onto the streets.

The choice before policymakers is simple. Keep pandering to ideological agendas with an unworkable firearms confiscation scheme, or get serious about stopping gun smuggling, repeat violent offenders, and meaningful sentencing reform.

If the goal is safer communities, the answer is obvious.

Leave lawful gun owners alone and put the bad guys in jail.

BERNARDO: Wasting resources on lawful gun owners while criminals walk free

Recent remarks from Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell highlight what Canada’s lawful firearms community has argued for years: Ottawa’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Program is political theatre that cannot make our streets safer.

www.westernstandard.news

 

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Alberta firearms license coming
Hunting protected
Sport shooting protected
Trudeau’s confiscation scheme STOPPED

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964343802824376548

 

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Carney government planning to complete gun buyback program by end of next year​

In an interview with the Star, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said an October 2025 amnesty deadline will have to be pushed back.

OTTAWA—Canada’s gun buyback scheme is in the “final stages” of design and will be completed “no later” than the end of 2026, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Monday, as he warned hesitant provinces and law enforcement agencies it’s their obligation to implement the law.

In an interview with the Star, Anandasangaree confirmed an October 2025 amnesty deadline will have to be pushed back, but reiterated the Carney government plans to move forward with the plan to buy back thousands of “assault-style” weapons it has banned since 2020.

“We committed to this during the campaign, it’s something that Canadians expect us to do, and we’re very much looking forward to launching it in the near future,” Anandasangaree said.

“We want to make sure it’s simple for Canadians, so that they’re not confused with the three orders-in-council, and making sure that it’s streamlined, it’s easily accessible, and that there’s fair compensation.”

His comments come as opposition to the program remains fierce, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan where Conservative governments have passed laws that would add roadblocks to Ottawa’s efforts to collect the over 2,500 variants of banned guns from their owners.

At the same time, the federal government has faced hurdles getting police forces to agree to implement the program, which was announced more than five years ago in the wake of the killing of 22 people in a Nova Scotia mass shooting. The looming delay would be the third-such extension since the federal government first promised the plan.

Anandasangaree said Monday he is optimistic federal compensation will encourage gun owners to comply, but stressed participation is “voluntary” and enforcing the law is not.

“Any region or territory that doesn’t allow us to implement the program, I think it’s doing their people a disservice,” he said.

“Ultimately, it’s up to each of the law enforcement agencies to implement what is Canadian law,” he added. “Anything beyond that, I think, is premature for us to speculate on.”

But Robert Freberg, Saskatchewan’s firearms commissioner, told the Star he remains concerned about several aspects of the program and has not been reassured by talks with federal officials, including Anandasangaree.

Freberg said he remains unconvinced Ottawa will be able to ensure guns are seized and stored properly, the program is complete within a year, and that it has set aside enough money to ensure all owners of banned guns are compensated.

The program is expected to cost $742.5 million, Public Safety Canada said in a statement. Anandasangaree said Ottawa can respond if the demand for the buyback is higher than anticipated and it would not be “a bad problem to have.”

Freberg, however, questioned how the federal government will ensure compliance with no accurate database on the number of previously non-restricted firearms banned by the federal government. Public Safety Canada did not provide a number when asked how many guns it intends to collect, and estimates have ranged from just over 100,000 to more than 500,000. Just over 12,000 guns were collected from businesses and approximately $22 million given out in compensation in the first phase of the buyback.

“We don’t want our citizens to be offside with the law,” Freberg said. “If you push the envelope too hard, and then at the same time, have a lack of information and knowledge and mechanism that makes it easy and simple to comply, all of those things create an issue.”

The Saskatchewan government, and Canada’s biggest gun lobby group, have proposed a “grandfathering” system that would allow gun owners to keep their banned guns and prevent any new guns from being manufactured or purchased instead of the buyback, but the federal government is adamant on moving forward with its plan.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Alberta’s minister of justice said the province remains opposed to the program because it “undermines” legal gun owners, doesn’t prevent criminal use of guns and its high cost.

“Alberta’s government is exploring various options with provincial, territorial, and federal counterparts and external stakeholders to protect law-abiding firearms owners from federal overreach,” the statement said.

Carney government planning to complete gun buyback program by end of next year

In an interview with the Star, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said an October 2025 amnesty deadline will have to be pushed back.

www.thestar.com