Gun Control

The deadly mass shooting at a school in British Columbia came as Canadian authorities face significant obstacles in rolling out a nationwide firearms buyback that is mired in practical and logistical complications.

Canada already has far stronger gun laws than the United States, and mass shootings are extremely rare. The government brought forward major reforms and bans on assault-style weapons after the country suffered its worst-ever shooting attack in 2020, when a man impersonating a police officer killed 22 people in northern Nova Scotia.

A hack linked to the Canadian program overseeing firearm licences and registration was the largest data breach reported by a federal institution to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in the past five years, according to documents obtained by the IJF.

The single incident accounted for more than half of all people affected by data breaches reported by federal institutions to the privacy watchdog during that period. In total, 3.7 million individuals were affected by data breaches during the time period.

Do you believe Mark Carney’s Liberal government will compensate you fairly for your confiscated firearms?

We don’t, because this scheme only pays compensation in narrowly defined circumstances.

(Incognito)

On January 19, firearms confiscation flipped from theoretical to reality for Canada’s 2.3 million licenced gun owners.

Public Safety Canada opened its “voluntary declaration” phase of the Liberal government’s Firearms Confiscation Compensation Scheme.

Quebec is now the only province openly willing to work with Ottawa on its federal “gun grab,” a reality that is hardening regional divisions and deepening skepticism about the so-called “assault-style” firearms compensation program.

While most provinces and many major police services have either rejected or distanced themselves from the initiative, Quebec has signalled its readiness to cooperate with the federal government on implementation. That decision has left Quebec increasingly isolated as the rest of the country pushes back against what critics routinely describe as a “gun grab.”

The Liberal Party of Canada has long been a political chameleon. It has been able to pragmatically adapt to contemporary issues and position itself toward the political centre of things. When the party drifts too far to one side of the spectrum, as happened under Justin Trudeau, it can reinvent itself and reset the electoral clock, as it did with Mark Carney. It’s an infuriating ability for partisan Conservatives to watch, and it has kept the Liberals as the predominant party in power for decades.