麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Public safety minister defends Canada's proposed firearms legislation, says it's needed to end gun violence

Share

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a House of Commons committee Tuesday that Bill C-21, the proposed legislation to further restrict access to handguns in Canada, is critical to ending gun violence.

In his testimony before the Public Safety Committee, Mendicino was specifically questioned several times about whether the firearm buyback portion of the bill is the most effective way of reducing the currently rising instances of gun violence.

If passed, Bill C-21 would introduce a national handgun 鈥渇reeze鈥 on sales, purchases or transfers of handguns, introduce 鈥渞ed flag鈥 laws, increase maximum penalties for some firearm-related offences, and implement a buyback program of the more than 1,500 鈥渁ssault-style鈥 firearms that were banned in the country in 2020.

鈥淚t is clear wherever you sit, regardless of the side of the aisle, or partisan stripe, that the status quo won't do,鈥 Mendicino told the committee. 鈥淎nd every time I meet with someone who has lost a loved one or who has been harmed by violence 鈥 we owe it to them to do more.鈥

Opponents of the bill say the buyback program is too costly, and that it punishes law-abiding gun owners, as opposed to effectively reducing gun violence by preventing illegal guns being smuggled over the border.

Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho questioned Mendicino extensively on the cost of the program, saying RCMP officers are already stretched thin in many regions of the country.

She argued the buyback would take money away from community protection and border enforcement.

鈥淓nsuring that police services who operate within provincial boundaries have the resources necessary to enforce laws to keep our community safe is not mutually exclusive to buying back assault-style rifles, and the reason is simple: those guns were designed with one purpose in mind and that is to kill,鈥 Mendicino said.

鈥淚 think it is reckless and they'll further endanger our communities,鈥 Dancho told the minister, to which Mendicino replied he 鈥渞espectfully disagree(s).鈥

Officials in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have said they will not support the federal government鈥檚 buyback program, and will not divert law enforcement officials to the task, a stance Mendicino called 鈥渞eckless鈥 in an interview on CTV鈥檚 Question Period last week.

Mendicino told the committee he has no 鈥淧lan B鈥 if the Prairies refuse to support the program, and that he鈥檚 currently focused on 鈥淧lan A.鈥

鈥淚n the view of this government, advancing a fair buyback program that will compensate law abiding gun owners for the assault-style rifles that they originally purchased lawfully is consistent with keeping our community safe, and we will always be collaborative with our provincial and territorial partners,鈥 Mendicino said.

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

Stay Connected