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Solomon Friedman Files First Lawsuit Against Liberal Gun Confiscations

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Solomon Friedman. Source: EdelsonLaw.ca

TheGunBlog.ca — Solomon Friedman, a lawyer with Edelson Friedman Black in Ottawa, filed the first lawsuit against the Canadian government’s May 1 gun-confiscation order targeting federally licensed owners and businesses.

Highlights

Federal Court E-Filing

Dates

  • Date of Document: 20 May 2020
  • Date Filed: 21 May 2020

Lawyer

Filed For

  • Cassandra Parker and the company she owns with her husband, K.K.S. Tactical Supplies (Prince George, British Columbia)

https://www.facebook.com/KKStacticalsupplies/posts/1336464353210812

Filed Against

  • Attorney General of Canada
  • RCMP
  • Registrar of Firearms

Which Court

  • Federal Court in Ottawa

Supported By

Key Points

  1. The prohibited guns are reasonable for hunting and sporting purposes, in contradiction of Order in Council 2020-298.
  2. There is no evidence to suggest the prohibited guns pose a disproportionate risk to public safety.
  3. The prohibitions violate the right to enjoyment of property as set out in the Bill of Rights.

Key Quotes

The firearms prescribed as prohibited in SOR/2020-96 are reasonable for use in Canada for hunting or sporting purposes. They do not pose a disproportionate risk to public safety. The Governor in Council’s opinion to the contrary is not supported by the evidence and is therefore, unreasonable. Accordingly, pursuant to s. 117.15(2) of the Code, these Regulations are invalid and should be declared as such by this Court.

In addition, SOR/2020-96 amounts to a confiscation of the lawfully owned property of the Applicant and thousands of other law-abiding firearms owners. It is therefore inconsistent with s. 1 (a) of the Canadian Bill of Rights, which protects the right to the “enjoyment of property”.

Pursuant to s. 2 of the Bill of Rights, absent the passage of unambiguous legislation, SOR/2020-96 must be construed in a manner that is consistent with the right to the “enjoyment of property” and any clauses which are inconsistent with that right are of no force and effect.

…

In fact, the evidence will demonstrate that virtually every statement set out in both the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement and the various public pronouncements made surrounding SOR/2020-96 is either false, out-of-context or otherwise misleading. [Bold added]

…

Indeed, the definition is, in and of itself, a circular one. In the government’s view, “assault-style firearms” are not reasonable for use in Canada for hunting or sporting purposes because they are “assault-style firearms”.

This is tautological and cannot be the basis for a reasonable and rational opinion by the Governor in Council.

In terms of technical characteristics, the affected firearms are fundamentally no different than hundreds of other models that remain non-restricted in Canada and have been used for decades for safe and responsible hunting and sport shooting.

Source: Court File No.: T-569-20, 20 May 2020

Affidavits to Be Provided By

  • Cassandra Parker, Lead applicant
  • Caillin Langmann, Medical doctor
  • Gary Mauser, Economist, Retired Professor at Simon Fraser University
  • Matthew Overton, President, Dominion of Canada Rifle Association (May 1 statement)
  • Ryan Harriman, Owner of SFRC-The Ammo Source
  • Chris Youngson, Owner of CanadaAmmo.com
  • Ryan Leef, Former MP for Yukon
  • Phil O’Dell, Owner of O’Dell Engineering
  • Warren Downing, Founder of Kwesst, Former employee of Colt Canada

What’s Next

  • Government and RCMP have 10 days to respond.
  • This lawsuit is one of at least five that have been announced.

Related

E-Filing

Correction: Corrects name of Ottawa Citizen newspaper.