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The federal gun buyback program has officially begun across the country, but it hasn’t received a stamp of approval in Saskatchewan.
The program, which launched on Monday, aims to provide compensation to the owners of some 2,500 types of guns that have been banned in Canada since May 2020, in exchange for the owners turning in or deactivating the firearms.
Ottawa said compensation will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis and gave owners until March 31 to “express interest” in the buyback scheme.
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Justice Minister Tim McLeod, who’s also responsible for the firearms secretariat, said the program will not compensate firearms owners fairly, won’t improve public safety and will be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.
“We’re disappointed that the federal government is continuing down this path, trying to pursue a program that’s clearly flawed,” he said.
In a news conference on Saturday, federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree was questioned about the opposition the program has faced in some provinces, like Saskatchewan and Alberta.
He acknowledged some “technical, legal challenges” that they’re working through, but reiterated that the program will be rolled out across Canada, and the provinces must comply.
One of those challenges is who will enforce this law in Saskatchewan.
McLeod said that, through the Saskatchewan Firearms Act, someone will be authorized and approved by the firearms commissioner to collect the confiscated firearms, but no one has been appointed yet.
“Our province is not authorizing any seizure agents at this point in time,” McLeod said.
“So his intent to roll this program across western Canada is going to be frustrated by some of the things that Saskatchewan and Alberta and our neighbours have done.”
During the conference, Anandasangaree seemed to imply that the province was impeding the federal government’s program.
“He’s trying to flex his muscles federally, saying, ‘We’ve made a decree, and we expect everyone to follow the law,'” McLeod said.
“Here in Saskatchewan, we’re certainly not counselling anybody not to follow the law. But what we are saying is if the federal government intends to confiscate people’s personal property, they need to properly compensate them.”
He said under the Saskatchewan Firearms Act, which will be debated on the floor of the legislature in the spring, fair compensation will be determined by the firearms commissioner.
“The firearms commissioner will have that value determined to be an appropriate fair market value, not the arbitrary values that the federal government are putting on these pieces of property. So it’ll be on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
“That will be the amount of compensation that the federal government will be obligated to pay. And if they don’t, there will be a procedure for the property owners have a cause of action against the federal government.”
An online portal will soon be launched to provide appraisals for all the firearms, ammunition and accessories impacted by the federal legislation.
According to the government, those firearm owners will then be able to use the appraisals as “evidence in court to hold the federal government accountable for providing fair compensation to all those affected by their legislation.”
McLeod hopes it doesn’t come to that.
“We certainly hope that the federal government will recognize the error of their ways and when will not bring the situation to a point where the citizens have to be suing them. That would be incredibly unfortunate,” he said.
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