Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says a new agreement the government has entered into with an association that represents Canada’s hunting and sport-shooting industry is a “significant milestone” in Ottawa’s move to implement a buyback program for restricted guns.
Mendicino told reporters in Ottawa on April 26 that the new agreement with the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association (CSAAA) will help the federal government with identifying the number and location of banned guns currently being held by firearms businesses across the country in order to “streamline the process of buying them back.”
The Liberal government
banned around 1,500 firearms models deemed to be “assault-style” in May 2020 through an Order in Council, and cabinet outlawed the buying, selling, and transferring of new handguns in Canada in November 2022 through an order made under the Firearms Act.
Both orders would be enshrined in law if the government’s pending Bill C-21 passes.
The CSAAA said in a
statement posted to Twitter on April 26 that it is representing the interests of licensed businesses through its involvement with the buyback program and said it aims to “help negotiate fair compensation and a simple process for businesses struggling through this challenging regulatory environment.”
It added that it will be participating in the buyback only as it applies to firearms businesses and not individuals.
Despite its involvement, the association
also said it “remains skeptical as to the viability of this industry buyback program ... due to positive changes in provincial legislation, the absence of Federal budgetary allocation,” and the lack of “a concrete process of implementation.”
Ottawa’s Firearms Buyback Program is one of several
options the Liberal government gives owners of legally acquired guns that fall under the ban in order to yield possession of their firearms. They can deliver the guns to police for destruction, legally export them, or sell them back to the government.
In his update on April 26, Mendicino said the CSAAA has “already identified approximately 11,000 assault-style firearms including, parts and components, within the existing inventory of firearms vendors across the country.”
“These are the first assault-style firearms bought back under the program and show that we are moving forward with this landmark federal initiative,” he said.
The
CSAAA said shortly after the announcement that it has not yet collected or provided any data to Public Safety Canada concerning the number of banned firearms held by vendors across the country.
The association
said in a Twitter post on April 26 it is “not aware” of where the 11,000-gun figure referenced by Mendicino “came from.”
“The CSAAA will only be collecting data on inventory levels and values of that inventory from dealers/distributors that wish to provide this information,”
the association said. “If a dealer/distributor is not sure how to determine the value of their inventory we will assist with that as well.”
Buyback Program
Mendicino also said in the announcement that Ottawa expects the buyback program’s first phase—which will focus on Canada’s firearms industry—to begin later this year, while the second phase focused on buying back guns from individual firearms owners will launch after that.
Mendicino also said the program would be “implemented in close coordination with law enforcement.”
Several provinces have already said they will
not cooperate with Ottawa’s plan to confiscate firearms within their area of jurisdiction.
The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and the Yukon have voiced their opposition to the federal buyback program.
The provincial governments in a joint statement also
called on Ottawa to halt its plans to use “scarce RCMP and municipal police resources to confiscate more than 100,000 legally acquired firearms from Canadians.”
Reporters asked Mendicino on April 26 how the federal government plans on implementing the national buyback program amid heavy provincial opposition, particularly in Alberta.
Mendicino said some provinces, such as Quebec and British Columbia, support the program and added that Ottawa is “working very closely” with the other provinces and territories opposed to it.
“All levels of government have a responsibility to acknowledge that we’ve got to tackle gun crime together,” he said.
“We’re going to work with Alberta,” he added. “We’re going to work with all partners from provinces and territories to do this work.”
Noé Chartier and Isaac Teo contributed to this report.
