LILLEY: Ford government joins court challenge to Carney's gun buyback
· Toronto Sun
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Last week in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Premier Doug Ford made a statement about guns that puzzled many. After a rant about a judge going too far in a ruling on a homeless encampment, Ford told gun owners to hold onto their property.
“Gun owners, protect your guns. Simple as that, don’t ever give them away,” Ford said.
Standing to his left was Mark Carney’s Industry Minister Melanie Joly. She’s one of the cabinet ministers backing Carney’s decision to carry on with Justin Trudeau’s ill-advised “gun buyback” program that targets legal and licenced gun owners instead of gangsters with illegal, smuggled guns.
While Ford’s comments mystified some then, their meaning is clear now.
Ontario is challenging the buyback before the Supreme Court
Premier Ford and his government are joining the governments of Danielle Smith in Alberta and Scott Moe in Saskatchewan in asking the Supreme Court to declare the gun program unconstitutional. The court challenge is being brought forward by the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights arguing that by never passing legislation and banning all of these guns by a cabinet decree, the government overstepped what is allowed.
While Ford hasn’t exactly been running to the side of Carney on this issue, his government hasn’t been helping either. Ford has ruled out his government or the OPP helping to collect the guns that were banned by what amounts to an executive order back in May 2020.
Ford has called on the Liberal government in Ottawa to ditch this program several times, saying that it is focused on the wrong target.
“Start focusing on the bad guys, not on the good guys,” Ford said back in January, “I support law-abiding hunters and gun owners because they’re responsible.”
Now, his government will back the court challenge.
“The federal government’s gun buyback program has done nothing to address the root causes of gun violence in our communities,” a statement from the office of Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said.
“We share the concerns raised by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on the federal government’s approach to the gun buyback program. Local police resources should be focused on combatting crime and keeping our communities safe — not attending residential addresses and confiscating firearms that were previously lawful but are now prohibited.”
The statement called on the federal government to step up and take control of the border with the United States to keep smuggled guns out of Canada.
Most crime guns in Canada are smuggled in from U.S.
Roughly 90% of the crime guns that can be traced are traced back to the United States and were smuggled into Canada illegally. That doesn’t mean the rest were obtained in Canada, often the guns that can’t traced also came from the U.S. but hat their serial numbers taken off.
Tracey Wilson, VP of public relations with the CCFR, says her group welcomes Ford’s government backing their court challenge as an intervenor.
“I think it sends a very loud and clear message to Mark Carney’s government that Ontario stands with their citizens and not with the feds on this issue,” Wilson said Tuesday.
She said the CCFR’s court challenge is looking to have fundamental questions answered.
“Can the government step into your life despite you doing nothing wrong and deem your stuff illegal that you’ve owned safely and without issue for decades and come and confiscate it by force?” she asked.
“And I think all Canadians need an answer to that question.”
Other questions before the court include asking about the ability to make these moves without ever taking a vote in Parliament. The ban was originally put through via an order-in-council, effectively a cabinet decree similar to the executive order that Donald Trump signs in the Oval Office with such flair.
Cabinet orders were never meant to usurp the power of Parliament, now the court will be asked to rule.
All parties need to have their paperwork into the court by September. Wilson expects a hearing early in 2027 with a decision in the months that follow.