EDMONTON—The Alberta government says it will not aid in implementing federal legislation to confiscate about 30,000 legally purchased but now-banned firearms, and will also not allow the province’s RCMP to take part in the effort.
In an announcement on Sept. 26, Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said federal Public Safety Minister Marco Medicino requested the province provide resources to help collect the prohibited firearms this fall, but said his province rejected this request for assistance and sent notice to the Alberta RCMP demanding it do the same.
“Alberta has been told that the federal government will use the RCMP to confiscate firearms–as they did during the 2013 floods–when the RCMP seized over 600 firearms during the notorious High River gun grab,” Shandro said. “Actions taken today will seek to prevent history from repeating itself. Further options are being explored and all options are on the table.”
In May 2020, the federal government said it is banning more than 1,500 models of what it termed as “assault-style” firearms, including AR-15s. Owners of these guns would have a two-year amnesty period to come into compliance with the prohibition, he said at the time. That amnesty period has been extended to October 2023 as Ottawa seeks to implement and enforce a mandatory buyback program.
Shandro says Ottawa’s move to label firearms as “assault” weapons is a label “designed to scare Canadians who are unfamiliar with firearms.”
Ottawa says banning the targeted weapons is necessary to fight violent crimes involving firearms.
“Assault-style firearms designed for military use have no place in Canada. By removing them from our streets, we will limit the devastating effects of gun-related violence and help make our country safer.”
Shandro said he wrote to the RCMP that the confiscation program is not a priority for the province and as such, RCMP deployment to aid the program is not appropriate.
Alberta taxpayers pay more than $750 million annually to fund the RCMP as the province’s police service.
The province will also formally dispute any attempt of the federal government to use the RCMP as confiscation agents by invoking the dispute resolution clause, Article 23 of the Provincial Police Service Agreement, Shandro said.
Alberta chief firearms officer Teri Bryant said the firearm confiscation program is another “misguided step” in the federal government’s efforts around the criminal misuse of firearms.
“I do not believe that law-abiding Canadian firearms owners support these bungled efforts and have no confidence in the capabilities of the federal government to administer such a massive seizure of personal property securely and effectively,” Bryant said.
The Alberta government will also intervene in six ongoing judicial review applications challenging the constitutionality of the federal firearm prohibition legislation, Shandro said.
“As intervenors, we would be able to offer the court arguments based on the specific challenges that the federal legislation has created for Alberta’s law-abiding firearms community and advanced legal arguments that the federal government has overreached with its plan to ban 1,500 models of firearms,” he said.
