Ontario Provincial Police won’t enforce federal gun confiscation plan

The Ontario Provincial Police will not participate in the Liberal government’s controversial firearms confiscation program, mirroring Alberta’s earlier refusal to enforce the policy.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will not participate in the Liberal government’s controversial firearms confiscation program, mirroring Alberta’s earlier refusal to enforce the policy.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told reporters on Wednesday that the OPP will not participate, forcing Ottawa to negotiate separately with municipal forces like Toronto and Peel. He added that the Ontario Provincial Police make up 26 per cent of the province's policing, so the federal government can still proceed.

He said some police organizations have already signed on, but did not elaborate. Anandasangaree repeated that more details were on the way regarding who would collect the guns and if the amnesty would be extended again.

Anandasangaree previously told True North that the Liberals’ gun confiscation program was “always voluntary.”

While refusing to elaborate, it appears provinces and police forces are taking that to heart and refusing to participate.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said her province will not enforce the federal program. She confirmed that sheriffs, municipal police, and even the RCMP will not be confiscating Albertans’ legally purchased firearms.

Smith said she would use every power available to her provincial government to fight the Liberals’ gun confiscation scheme.

“People want their law enforcement to focus on bad guys, and we’ve got a lot of bad guys out there,” she said. “We’ve got organized crime, fentanyl labs. We’ve got gangs. We’ve got human traffickers. We don’t want police resources going and knocking on people’s doors, because they didn’t voluntarily decide to give up their guns for payment, as the Prime Minister puts it.”

Firearm critics have rebuked Anandasangaree for calling the program “voluntary.”

“That is not true — his government made it mandatory,” said firearms writer Tim Thurley.

He previously outlined the legal alternatives of participating in the confiscation program: exporting or destroying the firearm, hoping for amnesty to continue, having it confiscated without being compensated, or going to prison.

Thurley also criticized Carney for misrepresenting the program, which Carney claimed exclusively included assault rifles.

“Worth noting: Carney refers to assault rifles, which are not impacted by or included in this confiscation program,” said Thurley.

The misleadingly branded ‘buy back’ has historically been presented to Canadians as mandatory. The program, introduced via Cabinet decree in 2020, eventually banned over 2,500 models of firearms, with costs expected to reach nearly $2 billion. However, the federal government has continuously extended the amnesty period as it has struggled to implement the program.

The current amnesty expires on October 30.

After five years, the banned guns remain with their licensed owners who legally purchased the firearms.

“There were no ‘assault weapons’ banned since May 1, 2020. Every one of these firearms were for hunting and or sport shooting. That’s why they were legal in the first place,” CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, Rod Giltaca, told True North. “The lies of these people are outrageous.”

The Vice President of Public Relations for the CCFR, Tracey Wilson, previously told True North that the program was not as the Liberals are now presenting it.

“So it’s not a ‘voluntary’ program, or ‘buy back’ as the Liberals and some in the media have happily called it. It is confiscation and seizure, under threat of imprisonment,” she said. “Carney has the gall to call it an ‘opportunity’ for licensed, law-abiding firearms owners to turn in their legally-purchased property?”

The penalty for illegal possession of a prohibited firearm is up to five years in jail.