TheGunBlog.ca — Canada’s governing Liberal Party has yet to decide how it will order mass rifle confiscations against hunters, farmers and sport shooters, CBC News reported last week, citing the Ministry of Public Safety.
The government “hasn’t yet determined the mechanism” for confiscation and “isn’t excluding the possibility of proposing a bill” to parliament, CBC Radio-Canada’s French news service said Jan. 31, quoting the Office of the Minister.
Order In Council Vs. Bill?
A petition against using a cabinet “Order In Council” for confiscation is the No. 1 e-petition in Canadian history.
The Liberals are committed to bans despite the strengthening petition, CBC reported.
Prohibition, Then Confiscation
Bill Blair, the minister of public safety, said in December that the prohibition order naming the guns/criteria of firearms to be confiscated is by Order In Council.
Politics
CBC also said the New Democratic Party and Bloc Québecois favour rifle confiscation and believe it would be better to have a debate in the House of Commons.
Analysis
Using a bill instead of a cabinet order to ban could be a way for the Liberals to avoid actually having to do a messy, costly and unpopular confiscation.
- Try a bill.
- Hope it gets delayed.
- Blame your opponents.
- Tell your base that you tried.
Key Quote, en français:
Or, le bureau du ministre de la Sécurité publique du Canada a indiqué à Radio-Canada ne pas avoir encore déterminé le mécanisme pour adopter cette interdiction et n’écarte pas l’éventualité du dépôt d’un projet de loi.
“Nous annoncerons les détails du programme de notre gouvernement sur les armes à feu bientôt.”
—Le bureau du ministre Bill Blair…
Si le Bloc québécois et le Nouveau Parti démocratique sont tous deux d’avis qu’il faut bannir ce type d’arme, ils croient néanmoins que d’en débattre en Chambre serait préférable.
Source: CBC News (French), 31 Jan. 2020
Ministry Comment to TheGunBlog.ca
Here is what Blair’s office told me today when I asked for info on the matter:
“Our government’s top priority is keeping Canadians safe. We’ve listened to Canadians across the country, and, as promised in the recent election, we will ban military-style assault rifles. We are currently examining all of the ways in which that could be accomplished.
“We are working diligently to make it more difficult for criminals to gain access to guns. That includes strengthening the border, bringing in stricter storage laws, and tackling the criminal diversion of handguns. We will not bring back the long gun registry, and we will not target guns designed for hunting.”
Source: Office of Minister Bill Blair, E-mail to TheGunBlog.ca, 03 Feb. 2020