Smith rejects Carney’s “voluntary” gun ban, says Alberta won’t enforce

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim that the Liberal gun confiscation program was “voluntary”, saying that it doesn’t matter either way.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim that the Liberal gun confiscation program was “voluntary”, saying that it doesn’t matter either way, as the law will not be enforced in the province.

The response came when talking with Ryan Jespersen on Friday morning.

“The federal government has jurisdiction over the Criminal Code, but the provinces have the power over policing and administration of justice. And that means we get to decide our policing priorities,” said Smith. “Our policing priorities are not to be targeting those who purchase their guns legally.”

She explained that non-enforcement of federal laws has been common in the past, seen nationwide with cannabis laws before it was legalized, British Columbia’s non-enforcement of hard drugs, and more.

“This is the power the provinces have,” said Smith. “There’s no appetite in my government to assist in targeting legal gun owners.”

Smith is doubling down after she previously vowed to use every power available to her provincial government to fight the Liberals’ gun confiscation scheme.

Her comments followed Carney, while speaking on the same podcast, calling the Liberals’ gun confiscation program “voluntary” for the first time since the program was introduced in 2020.

Adding to the confusion, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree doubled down on the “voluntary” comments in an exclusive interview with True North.

Smith explained that the focus of law enforcement can be better spent elsewhere.

“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.”

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.

To date, after five years, the banned guns remain in the possession of their licensed owners who legally purchased the firearms.

CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, Rod Giltaca, told True North after Carney’s comments that he doubts Ottawa has shifted to a voluntary approach.

“I think it’s more likely Carney has no idea what this program is in the first place, nor what the program is capable or incapable of achieving,” he said. “I don’t believe it will be optional. Maybe they’ll say ‘Keep your firearms, don’t get paid for them, but you’ll have to deactivate them (weld them shut)’ and therefore make them useless. Not really ‘optional.’”

Carney also claimed the ban does not affect hunting rifles or sporting firearms, and said the ban focuses only on assault rifles.

Giltaca said this characterization was false.

“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,” said Giltaca. “The lies of these people are outrageous.”

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

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?”

True North has asked Public Safety Canada what the consequences for noncompliance of the “voluntary” program will be for Canadians, but has not received a reply.