Four Canadian provinces have issued a joint statement opposing the Trudeau government's plans to use 'scarce RCMP and municipal police resources to confiscate more than 100,000 legally acquired firearms from Canadians.'
New Brunswick Joins Prairies in Opposing Use of Police for Ottawa’s Gun Confiscation Program | Epoch Times - Isaac Teo:
October 15, 2022 - "New Brunswick has joined forces with Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to oppose the federal government’s gun buyback program. The Yukon Legislature also recently passed a motion against the measures. In a joint statement on Oct. 14, New Brunswick, together with the Prairie provinces, called on the Liberal government to halt plans to use 'scarce RCMP and municipal police resources to confiscate more than 100,000 legally acquired firearms from Canadians.'
"The joint statement was issued following a discussion on Ottawa’s firearms buyback program at the “Federal, Provincial and Territorial Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety” in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, from Oct. 12 to Oct. 14. The Prairie provinces had already written to their respective RCMP divisions, indicating that no provincial funding should be used to confiscate legal firearms.... The Epoch Times sought comment from Public Safety Canada, which replied that it had forwarded the request to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s office. No response was received by publication time.
"The government’s buyback program comes on the heels of 2020 legislation banning more than 1,500 models of what it termed 'assault-style weapons, including AR-15s. Ottawa has said the buyback program 'will be mandatory' and will require anyone who owns guns banned under the new legislation to sell them to the government at prices determined by the feds, or else have them 'lawfully disposed' of.
"Alberta Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Tyler Shandro said the Liberal government contradicted its earlier claim that it would not have law enforcement administer the program due to high costs.... 'Make no mistake, the federal firearms confiscation program will cost us billions and will not improve public safety,' Shandro said, adding that the Alberta government is 'not legally obligated' to provide the resources and 'will not do so.' Alberta was the first province to announce its opposition to the buyback on Sep. 26. Following Shandro’s announcement, Mendicino said on CTV’s Question Period that Alberta’s attempt to challenge the constitutionality of the federal firearms prohibition is a 'political stunt'....
"Saskatchewan adopted Alberta’s position on Sept. 28. In the joint Oct. 14 statement, Christine Tell, the province’s minister of corrections, policing, and public safety, and Bronwyn Eyre, minister of justice and attorney general, said they are supportive of going after illegal guns, but not guns from law-abiding owners....
"On Oct. 13, the Yukon Legislative Assembly adopted a similar position as the Prairie provinces by passing a motion that '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.'
"Manitoba, which joined in pushing back on the feds’ buyback program on Sept. 28, said in the statement that the confiscation will have 'little impact' on criminals but will 'further erode' policing resources in the province....
"New Brunswick’s Public Safety Minister Kris Austin wants the RCMP to focus on policing instead of using their 'limited resources' to participate in the buyback program. 'New Brunswick’s bottom line is this: RCMP resources are spread thin as it is. We have made it clear to the Government of Canada that we cannot condone any use of those limited resources, at all, in their planned buyback program,' Austin said."
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