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

Firearms bill debate pushed to new year as MPs weigh more talks over hunting concerns​

The House of Commons public safety committee, which is conducting a clause-by-clause review of a Liberal firearm-control bill, did not meet Thursday as planned after the House adjourned Wednesday for the holidays.

The government says the aim is to outlaw firearms designed for the battlefield while respecting the legitimate needs of hunters and others who own rifles and shotguns.

MPs have been poring over the latest list of firearms that would fall under the definition.

There is debate over exactly what is included and what is not, because the definition applies only to some variations of certain models that meet the criteria — guns the government considers inappropriate for civilian use.

Another sticking point for the committee is the potential travel requirements, which staff confirmed would not be able to be approved until April at the earliest — delaying the issue even further into next year.


Referring to the highlighted content:

The first is an obvious and blatant lie at this point.

The second is a very clear indication of just who is making these asinine decisions.

Nog
 
Monday, December 19, 2022
Canada’s Politics and Government News Source Since 1989

Feds undercut their own momentum on gun bill, say observers


A gun control group calls on the House Public Safety Committee studying the sweeping Liberal firearms bill to address ‘misinformation’ about which guns would be banned by recent proposed amendments. Heidi Rathjen says she's worried the confusion will erode public support for the bill.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino tells reporters on Dec. 14, the last day of the fall session of Parliament, that the government has 'heard loud and clear from hunters and Indigenous peoples' about their concerns with proposed amendments to the firearms bill.

As opposition MPs and strategists decry the Liberals’ latest attempt to ban assault weapons as “underhanded” and “a complete own goal,” one of Canada’s leading gun control advocates says it’s unclear why the government introduced major amendments without any accompanying communication and is worried that the resulting confusion over which guns would be banned will erode public support for the bill.

Heidi Rathjen, co-founder of the gun control group PolySeSouvient, told The Hill Times she supports recent changes that would widen the scope of the government’s firearms bill, but is concerned about the way the government introduced these amendments.

The proposed amendments to Bill C-21 include “an evergreen definition” of which assault weapons to ban. Rathjen said this has been her group’s top priority for three decades. PolySeSouvient is made up of the survivors and family members of the victims of the 1989 massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal.

She said her group only agreed to stand with the government when it tabled the original legislation in May because Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) and his office promised to amend the bill after the fact to include the evergreen definition of assault weapons.
 
“But don’t ask me for explanations on why it was done the way it was done,” said Rathjen of the government’s late November amendment, which she said led to an information void that has since been filled by confusion and misinformation from opponents of gun control legislation.

Mendicino’s office did not respond by deadline to questions from The Hill Times about why the government did not put out any public statements in late November or early December to explain the last-minute amendments to the bill.

Heidi Rathjen, co-founder of gun control group PolySeSouvient, says advocates have been pushing for more than 30 years for a definition of banned assault weapons that would not become outdated as new models are introduced.

The minister’s office also did not confirm whether the government had promised groups such as PolySeSouvient, before Bill C-21 was tabled on May 30, that it would eventually amend the bill to include an evergreen definition of assault-style weapons to be banned.

Rathjen said legislative text on its own is complex to read.

“You have to be a lawyer and a ballistics expert to understand the amendment the way it’s written. It took us days to understand what it meant, and that was based on extensive research, conversations, and listening to the testimony of the experts in committee,” said Rathjen.

Former NDP staffer Cam Holmstrom told The Hill Times the way the Liberals rolled out the 300-plus-page amendments to the firearms bill was “a complete own goal.”

He said introducing “hundreds of pages” worth of amendments once the bill had already made it to clause-by-clause consideration in the House Public Safety Committee was a show of bad faith. “It makes people think you’re up to something.”

Given that the Conservatives have been warning for more than 15 years that “the Liberals are coming to take your guns,” Holmstrom said the government’s approach in this case gave credence to these warnings.

“In the age of conspiracy theories, you’ve actually managed to take the disinformation and make it real,” said Holmstrom, now founder and principal at Niipaawi Strategies.

He said the government’s approach has put its rural MPs in a difficult position—especially Liberal MPs in the territories, in Quebec, in New Brunswick, and “definitely in Labrador” who rely on the votes of Indigenous communities.

Yukon Liberal MP Brendan Hanley, seen here at a committee meeting on Oct. 20, says he has heard from constituents who are concerned that their hunting rifles will be banned.
“They’ve got good northern MPs and good Indigenous MPs in that caucus who know this issue,” he said, speculating the government had either not consulted with them before introducing the amendments, or worse, had consulted with them but then disregarded their advice.

Yukon Liberal MP Brendan Hanley, who said in the House on Dec. 7 that he would not support the bill if the amendments were to pass as written, told The Hill Times he has since had several conversations with House Public Safety Committee members and with Mendicino to express the concerns of Yukoners who say they have found their hunting rifles on the list of weapons that would be banned by the bill. Hanley said he’s “heartened” by the minister’s openness to addressing these concerns.

“I’m certainly encouraged,” he said, adding that he spoke with Mendicino on Dec. 14 about the possibility of direct consultation or round table events that would involve northern, rural, and Indigenous voices.

“I’m looking forward to getting clarity on the amendments,” he said.

‘The proposed amendments include an evergreen definition of assault weapons that would have more staying power than a static list of specific guns that becomes outdated over time as new models enter the market.

Rathjen said the amendments would not impose a sweeping ban on hunting rifles, as suggested by Conservative MPs and gun rights groups. She pointed out the changes, if passed, would ban military-grade weapons that produce more than 10,000 joules of muzzle energy, while allowing guns that fall beneath that threshold.

“Ten thousand joules will pierce light armoured vehicles. It may be used to kill elephants, but we don’t have elephants in Canada,” she said. “This is massive, massive damage. Just for example, an AK-47 produces less than 2,000 joules of muzzle energy.”

Rathjen said Mendicino’s team had promised an evergreen definition would be part of the government’s gun control package, even though the original text of Bill C-21 did not include it when it was tabled in Parliament on May 30. She said Mendicino confirmed this promise to her group and to other gun control supporters in person when they stood behind him at a press conference later that day, and that she took this as a promise that the government would amend the bill.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino holds a press conference May 30 to announce the government’s gun control package.
“It’s been 33 years. It’s now or never. This is our last battle. If we don’t get it through with a government who was elected on three promises to ban assault weapons,” said Rathjen, “it’s the end of our fight. We’re all volunteers, nobody gets paid. You can’t expect people to keep fighting this fight forever.”

House Public Safety Committee still assessing next steps
Liberal MP Paul Chiang (Markham-Unionville, Ont.) introduced two amendments to Bill C-21 at the House Public Safety Committee in mid-November—labelled G-4 and G-64. Amendment G-64 is more than 300 pages long and includes a list of firearms to be banned. The amendments first came up for discussion at the Nov. 22 meeting, when the committee was scheduled to begin clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

Liberal MP Paul Chiang introduced the proposed amendments the meeting before a parliamentary committee was scheduled to do clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

Conservative MPs objected to what they called substantial amendments outside the scope of the original bill. Speaking to reporters from the House of Commons foyer on Dec. 8 after she was expelled during a debate about the firearms bill, Conservative MP Raquel Dancho (Kildonan-St. Paul, Man.) said “millions of hunters” would be affected by what she called “the largest ban of Canadian hunting rifles in the history of our country.”

Conservative MP Raquel Dancho says the Liberals brought amendments to the firearms bill in an ‘underhanded way.’
She went on to criticize the “underhanded way” in which the Liberals introduced the amendments at the House Public Safety Committee, where she is the vice chair.

Bloc Québécois MP Kristina Michaud (Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, Que.) and NDP MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, B.C.), the public safety critics for their respective parties, joined with Liberal members of the committee on Dec. 8 to request an emergency meeting to discuss extending its study of the bill in light of the public uproar over the lengthy amendments.

That meeting, which interrupted clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, began on Dec. 13. MPs debated the possibility of scheduling additional meetings to hear witness testimony about the amendments. The Dec. 13 meeting was suspended after two hours without a resolution to the key question. Committee clerk Simon Larouche confirmed in an email that the meeting would resume in 2023.

The motion to bring in additional witnesses has not yet been finalized, but the committee discussed inviting Indigenous groups and hunters’ associations concerned that the amendments would take away their hunting rifles.

Rathjen said such groups have been misled into thinking it would affect them, and instead called on the committee to begin the new year with testimony from “neutral legal and ballistics experts” who can clarify what the text actually says.

“People need to know accurately whether their firearms are being affected. And then it’s time to hear legitimate complaints. Because we also believe it’s impossible to draw a clear line between hunting and assault weapons. And there’s inevitably going to be models that fall on the wrong side of that line. And those corrections will need to be made. But they have to be based on facts and reality, and not on disinformation.”

Sheamus Murphy, a former Liberal staffer now with Counsel Public Affairs, told The Hill Times that MPs propose amendments to bills all the time at the committee stage and these amendments do not typically come with lengthy communications strategies. He did acknowledge, however, that a highly technical 300-plus-page amendment from a government MP might signal co-ordination with the minister’s office.

Still, Murphy said the government has shown a willingness to address the concerns following the uproar and “the active discussion that you see playing out across Canada” reflects a healthy legislative process in action.

“It’s not a simple question about where you draw the line between a hunting rifle and an assault weapon,” said Murphy, who added he was confident the committee would strike the right balance in the end.


And right there, in black and white, we understand that this government colluded with and bribed anti-firearm groups to sneak the amendments in AFTER debate on C 21's particulars.
Slimy & Underhanded to say the least...
 
Feds eyeing 'variety of options' for planned firearm buyback program: Mendicino

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal government is "looking at a variety of options" to carry out a planned buyback of banned firearms — including enlisting outside help.

Canadian police chiefs have urged the Liberal government not to rely on resource-strapped police forces to deliver the coming gun buyback.

In May 2020, the government announced a ban through order-in-council on over 1,500 models and variants of what it considers assault-style firearms, such as the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14.

It said those guns were designed to kill people and had no place in hunting or sport shooting.

The legislation has received criticism from a number of hunting groups and others, who say the new legislation will only target law-abiding gun owners.

The proposed buyback program would require owners to either sell these firearms to the government or have them rendered inoperable at federal expense.

In an interview, Mendicino says the program will involve police, but adds Ottawa is also working with other levels of government, industry leaders and "potential third parties."

https://www.castanet.net/news/Canad...for-planned-firearm-buyback-program-Mendicino
 

LILLEY: Trudeau's gun buyback program doesn't exist almost three years after he announced it​


It’s time to admit that the Trudeau government’s plans for a so-called gun buyback program are a joke. The plan was announced on May 1, 2020, and in a Canadian Press story Sunday based off of a year-end interview with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, the government admitted, they haven’t got a clue.

When he announced the buyback program almost 1,000 days ago, Justin Trudeau promised to work through Parliament to accomplish this goal.

“Designing an appropriate and fair and effective buyback program is something that we will do as part of a legislative requirement,” Trudeau said at the time.

If you want to know if the Trudeau government is serious about this issue, look to their budget and their legislation on gun control. Neither document will give you any information about a proposed buyback program because there isn’t one.

The Trudeau Liberals have figured out that they can use gun issues to play wedge politics to their own advantage. Most Canadians don’t own guns, most have never touched a gun and don’t want to. They know nothing about guns beyond what they see in movies or on the news and Trudeau uses that to his advantage.

That is all that is happening now as Trudeau sends out Mendicino to talk about his plans for a gun buyback — they are playing politics. Shootings have gone up since Trudeau took office, more than doubled in Toronto alone, but he continues to sell the public on claims that aren’t true and promises that he can’t deliver on.

 

Breaking down Bill C-21: what amendments to gun legislation could mean for Inuit​

Gun control expert Noah Schwartz says proposed amendments may do more harm than good

Nunavummiut will have a chance in the new year to tell a parliamentary committee about the potential impacts of the federal Liberal government’s gun control bill, says Nunavut MP Lori Idlout.

Critics say recent amendments to the proposed law made by the House of Commons public safety and national security committee could ban some of the rifles and shotguns used by hunters, including Inuit and other Indigenous Peoples.

Those recent amendments to the government’s proposed gun control legislation, Bill C-21, are likely to affect hunters across the country, according to University of Fraser Valley assistant professor and gun control expert Noah Schwartz.

He said the proposed amendments will do more harm than good for two main reasons: many people in remote and northern communities may continue using these firearms because they are unaware of changes to legislation, and the amendments fail to address socioeconomic factors that are leading to the rise of gun violence across the country.

 

Liberal gun bill misfires​


When it comes to gun control, the Liberal government is either being sneaky, is deeply confused or is simply the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.

Last year, it introduced much-needed legislation meant to freeze the transfer, sale or purchase of handguns in Canada, establish a new “red flag” law and toughen penalties for cross-border smuggling and trafficking. Those were popular, long overdue moves. So far, so good.

Then came an 11th-hour amendment to the legislation that has unnecessarily reignited the gun debate in this country.

This time, the debate comes with a twist. Rather than conveniently, and oftentimes accurately, blaming their Conservative opponents for spreading disinformation and groundless fear, the Liberals are doing it to themselves. In a rare instance of running the political table, the Liberals have managed to unite Conservatives, New Democrats, Indigenous leaders, hunters, collectors and at least one iconic NHL goaltender in opposition.

They did it by introducing an amendment to the legislation after it had passed second reading in the Commons and is before a parliamentary committee. Because the amendment is 478 pages long, we’ll give them a pass on sneaky because no one can seriously believe the Conservative claim that the Liberals thought they could “sneak” 478 pages past a Parliamentary committee comprised of MPs suddenly being asked by constituents to analyze firearm prohibition based on magazine size, muzzle energy and detachable cartridges.

It is apparent that the Liberals, in their bid to outlaw assault weapons, have ensnared too many firearms used for legitimate hunting and protection in rural and northern Canada.

 

Why Canada has the most activist Supreme Court in the world — and how it's changed the country​


From catch-and-release justice to MAID overreach, Canadian judicial activism is yielding some massive unintended consequences

Slashing gun sentencing laws due to an imaginary scenario

R v. Antic wasn’t the only instance in which the Supreme Court took a scythe to the justice system’s ability to keep offenders in jail. R v. Nur, released in 2015, decided that the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences on gun criminals constituted “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The ruling didn’t apply to all mandatory minimum sentences; requiring a minimum jail term for a rapist or murderer was still fine. But the Court ruled that putting someone in jail for three years on a gun charge could theoretically be “grossly disproportionate” and was therefore unconstitutional.

The case surrounded 19-year-old Hussein Nur, who was caught with a loaded handgun while allegedly attempting to “get” a rival in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Convicted of possessing a prohibited firearm with ammunition, Nur was handed the requisite three-year minimum sentence.

But the Supreme Court didn’t strike down mandatory gun sentences based on the particulars of Nur’s case. In fact, the Court wrote that sending Nur to jail for three years made perfect sense and did “not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.”

Rather, the R v. Nur decision was based entirely on a hypothetical scenario in which a Crown prosecutor tried to seek a three-year prison term for a gun owner whose only crime was forgetting to renew their licence. It didn’t matter that this scenario had never happened before; the mere possibility that it could happen was enough for the Court to strike mandatory minimum gun sentences from the Criminal Code on the grounds that they were a grossly disproportionate application of justice.

The decision was 6-3, with the dissenting judges writing that the whole decision hinged on a “marginally imaginable” scenario that stretched “the bounds of credulity.” “It is not a sound basis on which to nullify Parliament’s considered response to a serious and complex issue,” they wrote.



There is more in the article. Much that is...
 
Liberals' gun grab to begin in Prince Edward Island

The federal government this year proposes to launch its long-promised national buyback of prohibited firearms starting in Prince Edward Island, according to a federal memo. Islanders own few guns and represent a low “risk assessment” before RCMP expand the program nationwide, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

“Prince Edward Island will be used as a pilot and will be the first point of collection based on the smaller number of firearms,” said an August 31 Transition Book for the Minister of Public Works. “As a result of lessons learned, gaps analysis and risk assessment would inform the second phase national rollout.”

“Phase two, the national rollout, is planned for spring 2023 once an information technology case management system is in full place,” said the memo. The department acknowledged “very limited interest from the industry” in supporting the buyback program first proposed three years ago.

No budget was detailed for the gun grab. The Parliamentary Budget Office in a 2021 Cost Estimate Of The Firearm Buyback Program put expenses at $756 million but warned details “remain unclear.”

“There remain too many outstanding questions on how this program will be implemented to currently develop a complete picture of the true potential cost of the program,” said Cost Estimate. The number of affected firearms ranged widely from 150,000 to as many as 518,000.

 
Liberals' gun grab to begin in Prince Edward Island

The federal government this year proposes to launch its long-promised national buyback of prohibited firearms starting in Prince Edward Island, according to a federal memo. Islanders own few guns and represent a low “risk assessment” before RCMP expand the program nationwide, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

“Prince Edward Island will be used as a pilot and will be the first point of collection based on the smaller number of firearms,” said an August 31 Transition Book for the Minister of Public Works. “As a result of lessons learned, gaps analysis and risk assessment would inform the second phase national rollout.”

“Phase two, the national rollout, is planned for spring 2023 once an information technology case management system is in full place,” said the memo. The department acknowledged “very limited interest from the industry” in supporting the buyback program first proposed three years ago.

No budget was detailed for the gun grab. The Parliamentary Budget Office in a 2021 Cost Estimate Of The Firearm Buyback Program put expenses at $756 million but warned details “remain unclear.”

“There remain too many outstanding questions on how this program will be implemented to currently develop a complete picture of the true potential cost of the program,” said Cost Estimate. The number of affected firearms ranged widely from 150,000 to as many as 518,000.

I bet they buy back like 5 guns in PEI lol
 

Firearms ban amendments about votes, not safety, say P.E.I. gun owners​


Amendments to Bill C-21 that expand the definition of banned firearms needed more consultation with hunters and target shooters, say two P.E.I. gun owners.

"This isn't a minor amendment to the law," Nelline Cronje, a member of Women Shooters of P.E.I, told Island Morning host Laura Chapin.

"It's a fundamental change which was not debated in the house. Expert witnesses did not get to speak to it. No consultations were done on it It circumvents the whole democratic process."

One gun in particular on the list, said Cronje, the SKS, is commonly used for hunting outside of P.E.I. The Canadian Shooting Sports Association estimates there are 500,000 SKS owners in Canada. Many of them have no idea their ownership of the gun could be criminalized, said Cronje.

The changes include many guns commonly used for hunting.

Both Cronje and Paynter agree the changes are more about politics than safety.

"Let's be real here. It's all about votes, using the gun laws to divert attention," said Paynter.

"If [they want] to make this country safer put the money into policing, and also our health-care system, and particularly the mental health side of things.

 

Yukon Liberal MP promises local roundtable meetings on federal gun bill​


Yukoners will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on proposed amendments to federal gun control legislation, the territory's MP says.

"I'm certainly glad to see there's been some movement," Hanley told CBC News. "We're seeing this on a number of different fronts. Primarily due to some of the concerns raised by myself and many constituents and other MPs. Especially rural MPs from all parties."

Bill C-21 was initially aimed at banning handguns but an amendment now proposes certain long guns, including rifles and shotguns, be added to the list.

Hanley said there will be two roundtable-type meetings through Canada's Public Safety office with a Yukon focus being planned.

 
I bet they buy back like 5 guns in PEI lol
Ya - rum-running province during the Prohibition.


Justin appears to be repeating history where the temperance law was tried 1st in PEI:


Alcohol prohibition didn't slow any spud Islanders down - doubt if firearms will be very different.

Not sure why they picked PEI. Maybe Justin has a favourite surf beach near Brackley beach - the East Coast Tofino. After he's done surfing he can go visit the bootleggers (the infamous "No 2 legion") on Richmond downstreet from the real #1 Legion in Charlottetown and see how well people pay attention to the rules. What a tool.
 

Ottawa considered P.E.I. as pilot location for gun buy-back launch before reversing course​


The Trudeau government initially planned to launch its controversial gun buy-back program in P.E.I. this year, starting its collection of newly-banned firearms in the province as a pilot.

But as of Jan. 10, Public Safety Canada has confirmed to SaltWire Network that the federal government no longer intends to launch a P.E.I. pilot of the gun buy-back program before other provinces.

The buy-back program is still planned in advance of a new ban coming into effect on over 1,800 models of firearms deemed to be “assault-style firearms.” There is currently no public timeline for when the buyback program will begin.

 

Ottawa’s three different definitions of assault-style firearms cause confusion​

The federal government’s marquee gun-control legislation simultaneously relies on three different definitions of what counts as an assault-style weapon, resulting in a tangle of banned firearms that experts are struggling to understand, and that the government has not fully explained.

The government’s approach, which was described to The Globe and Mail in a technical briefing with a federal official, explains why shotguns and rifles that aren’t banned under one section of amendments to the legislation, called Bill C-21, are banned in another.

The bill has been widely criticized because the ban on assault-style firearms it proposes would prohibit people from owning some popular hunting and sport shooting guns. As a result, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have lost the support they need from opposition parties to pass the bill in the minority Parliament, forcing the government to accept more committee review and opening the door to changes.

 
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