Liberal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said during a Friday morning media scrum that the federal right to confiscate and regulate firearms was “well-settled” by the Supreme Court despite Alberta’s refusal to dedicate policing resources towards Ottawa’s gun grab.
Mendicino made the statements in response to a question from a journalist about the sweeping Liberal gun ban legislation, Bill C-21.
“Where does this leave the RCMP in the sense that you have two competing jurisdictions battling over these gun bans? Could this create more public safety concerns if they have to deal with confiscating guns while you have one jurisdiction saying ‘No, this isn’t constitutional’ and the federal government saying ‘Yes, we can do this’?” asked a reporter.
“I am confident that the Supreme Court has examined this question around federal jurisdiction over the regulation of firearms. It’s well-settled law now for about 20 or maybe approaching 22-years now,” claimed Mendicino.
“That is precisely what C-21 is. It is a piece of federal legislation that is proposed to become law that is about the regulation of firearms… Insofar as how we implement it, we will maintain a very robust dialogue with all of our provinces and territories, including Alberta, so that we can make sure that the policy does what it’s intended to do which is to keep our communities safe from gun crime.”
On Thursday, the Alberta government rebuked Ottawa with provincial Justice Minister Tyler Shandro accusing the federal government of being “increasingly hostile.”
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the federal Liberal government is pursuing a strategy to ban all legal firearms ownership,” said Shandro.
“Their actions are targeting western Canadians for a reason. This is about shoring up their own political support.”
Alberta has also stated it will take back jurisdiction on charges under the Firearms Act with Alberta Crown prosecutors taking over any relevant cases.
“This new protocol for prosecutors will help prevent otherwise law-abiding individuals from facing criminal charges and potential time in jail,” said Shandro.
“At the same time, law enforcement and prosecution resources can be prioritized for actual violent and repeat offenders while not further clogging our already busy courts.”
Several provinces including Alberta and Saskatchewan have indicated they will not dedicate provincial policing resources to target law-abiding firearm owners.
