OTTAWA —
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the federal government is immediately placing a ban on 1,500 models and variants of certain assault-style weapons that have been used in mass shootings in Canada and abroad.
“Effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister described the sweeping regulations as “closing the market” on these weapons in Canada.
The government will be offering current owners of these guns the ability to either grandfather in their ownerships, or the ability to be compensated through a buyback program, though the details of both options have yet to be outlined.
The prime minister spoke about how every Canadian can remember the day they realized how “a man with a gun could irrevocably alter our lives for the worse.”
Citing a list of mass shootings in Canada, Trudeau said they “shape our identity” and “stain our conscience,” and are happening more and more often.
The prime minister diverted from his usual daily COVID-19 updates to make the announcement alongside Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Justice Minister David Lametti, and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on Parliament Hill.
The ban includes guns that have been used in past Canadian shootings, such as:
the Ruger Mini-14 that was used in the Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal in 1989, and which the government estimates there are 16,860 currently in circulation in Canada;
the M14 semi-automatic that was used in the 2014 Moncton shooting, which the government estimates there are 5,230 in Canada;
the Beretta CX4 Storm that was used in the Dawson College shooting, which the government estimates there are approximately 1,510 currently in circulation; and
the CSA-VZ-58 that the gunman attempted to use in the Quebec mosque shooting, which the government says there are 11,590 in Canada.
Another one of the firearms on Canada’s list of federally prohibited weapons is the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which was used by the gunman who killed 50 people at a Christchurch, New Zealand mosque in 2019, as well as in other mass shootings in the United States including the Sandy Hook and Las Vegas massacres. A handful of similar models are also on the list, as well as guns with muzzle energy exceeding 10,000 joules and those with calibres exceeding 20 millimetres, such as grenade launchers.
Less than a month after the 2019 Christchurch attack, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her government outlawed most automatic and semi-automatic weapons as well as components to modify existing weapons. Trudeau was scheduled to speak with Ardern on Friday.
2-YEAR AMNESTY, WITH CONDITIONS
Blair, a former police chief, has been stickhandling the federal government’s gun policy and he said that “from this moment forward, the number of these guns will only decrease in Canada.”
Noting that the “vast majority” of gun owners use them safely and lawfully, the government is putting in place a two-year amnesty period to protect those with these guns from criminal liability until they can take steps to comply with the new rules.
Specifically, Lametti said that there will be an amnesty order put into the Criminal Code effective Friday and lasting until April 30, 2022 for Canadians who currently lawfully own these newly prohibited firearms, giving them “a reasonable timeframe to come into compliance.”
During this time they can be legally exported with a valid permit, and business owners can return them to their manufacturer.
However, any current owners cannot use these guns any longer in the interim, nor can these firearms be imported or sold to individuals in Canada. These guns need to be safely stored, only transferred or transported for the purpose of deactivation or surrendering the gun to police if the owner seeks to do so before the buyback program is in place, Lametti said.
The justice minister said there will be an exception for Indigenous peoples exercising a hunting record under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, which recognizes Indigenous rights; as well as an exception for people who use one of the now-banned guns to hunt to feed themselves or their families, until they can acquire a “suitable replacement.’
“We are asking that no one attempt to surrender their firearm while social distancing because of COVID-19 is being practiced… At the end of the amnesty period, all firearm owners will have to be in compliance with the prohibition,” Lametti said.
The move has been cabinet-approved and the reclassification of these weapons can be done through an order-in-council rather than legislation, though future gun control measures are expected to be introduced.
‘MORE THAN THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS’
In the wake of the mass shooting that killed 22 people in Nova Scotia earlier this month, Trudeau had said he intended on pushing ahead with the Liberal election promise of banning military-style assault weapons.
Referencing this month’s Nova Scotia rampage, Trudeau said the victims’ families “deserve more than thoughts and prayers.”
“This chapter in our history cannot be rewritten, but what happens next is up to us. We can stick to thoughts and prayers alone, or we can unite as a country and put an end to this,” Trudeau said on Friday.
On Friday, Trudeau restated his position that guns designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time have no place in Canada.
He has previously said that the federal government was “on the verge” of moving ahead on gun control legislation before the pandemic caused Parliament to suspend.
LEGISLATION COMING, TORIES BALK
Expected in future legislation is a buyback program for military-style assault rifles purchased legally in Canada, tougher safe-storage laws, and strengthened penalties for smuggling guns into Canada. The government has also committed to crack down on handguns.
Blair said that the federal government is also going to bring in “red flag laws” allowing law enforcement to remove firearms from dangerous situations.
In the last Parliament, the Liberals made changes to the rules related to firearm ownership, including broadening background checks for gun owners, toughening rules around the transportation of handguns, and increasing record-keeping requirements for the sale of firearms. It also repealed changes made by the previous Conservative government and the federal Tories have vowed to reverse these changes.
Trudeau called Friday’s announcement the “next step” in their gun control policy, and said he’s already spoke with other party leaders about future legislation.
In a statement reacting to the announcement, outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer accused Trudeau of “using the current pandemic and the immediate emotion of the horrific attack in Nova Scotia to push the Liberals’ ideological agenda and make major firearms policy changes. That is wrong.”
Scheer criticized Trudeau for not waiting until the House of Commons resumes full sittings to take up this debate.
“Taking firearms away from law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop dangerous criminals who obtain their guns illegally. The reality is, the vast majority of gun crimes are committed with illegally obtained firearms. Nothing the Trudeau Liberals announced today addresses this problem,” Scheer said in the statement.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
