The Yukon Legislative Assembly has adopted a motion to say that local RCMP resources shouldn’t be used for the federal government’s gun buyback program. The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have taken similar positions in recent weeks.
The motion was brought forward by Yukon Party Justice Critic Brad Cathers and passed with the support of the Yukon Party and the Yukon NDP MLAs. All Yukon Liberal MLAs, who formed a minority government in the territory after the 2021 election, voted against the motion.
The motion says that the territorial legislature “urges the Yukon government to ensure that territorial policing resources are not diverted to assist in the implementation of the Government of Canada’s gun ‘buy-back’ program.”
Cathers said it’s important to ensure that police resources are not diverted from focusing on organized crime and other serious public safety issues. He also emphasized the need to respect licensed firearms owners, including those who depend on hunting to feed their families.
“The National Police Federation, which is the union representing RCMP members, has made it clear that the Trudeau government’s Order-in-Council prohibiting various firearms and the ‘buy-back’ program will divert police resources away from dealing with organized crime,” Cathers said.
“RCMP members said the federal Liberal government’s firearms measures actually divert important personnel and resources from where they are needed most. We are happy the motion passed, and hope the territorial government will respect the will of the Yukon Legislative Assembly.”
The federal government’s buyback program comes on the heels of its 2020 legislation banning more than 1,500 models of what it termed as “assault-style” firearms, including AR-15s.
Ottawa has said that the buyback program “will be mandatory” and will require any Canadian owning guns banned by the new legislation to sell them to the government at prices determined by the feds, or else have them “lawfully disposed.”
Alberta was the first province to announce its opposition to the buyback, with Justice Minister Tyler Shandro saying in a press conference on Sept. 26 that the provincial government “will not tolerate taking officers off the streets in order to confiscate the property of law-abiding firearms owners.”
Saskatchewan followed suit two days later. Christine Tell, the province’s minister of corrections, policing, and public safety, told RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore in a letter that the provincial government “will not authorize the use of provincially funded resources of any type for the federal government’s buyback.”
Manitoba’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General Kelvin Goertzen said on Sept. 28 that his province also doesn’t want to devote “precious provincial police resources” to the gun buyback program.
“Manitoba has consistently stated that our approach to gun violence is to focus on those who use weapons in crime, not law abiding gun owners,” Goertzen said in a statement.
Peter Wilson contributed to this report.
