Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick called on the federal government to halt plans to use scarce RCMP and municipal police resources to confiscate more than 100,000 legally acquired firearms from Canadians. The Prairie provinces had already written to their RCMP divisions indicating that provincial funding should not be used for this purpose.
The four provinces wanted to ensure that no funding for the Guns and Gang Violence Action Fund or other public safety initiatives be diverted to the federal firearms confiscation program. Instead, the provinces determined that funding should be used to fight the criminal misuse of firearms by tackling border integrity, smuggling and trafficking.
“Two years ago, the federal government said that using police resources would be ‘expensive and inefficient.’ Now the federal government has resorted to using police resources to seize firearms from Canadians. Make no mistake, the federal firearms confiscation program will cost us billions and will not improve public safety. Alberta’s government is not legally obligated to provide resources and will not do so,” said Tyler Shandro, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General for Alberta.
The four provinces also called on the federal government to direct all communications related to the federal firearms confiscation program through appropriate channels - provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety.
Thu, Apr 25, 1:00 PM
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