The promise was presented with great fanfare as early as 2019. The Trudeau government would ban military-style assault weapons and require their buyback so that they are destroyed and disappear from legal circulation for good. The ban fell in 2020, following the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, in Portapique, Nova Scotia.
But since then, the neutralization of these weapons has been stopped. The famous buyback program is still awaited. And it has even just been delayed once again… until the fall of 2025. In the current political context, it is nevertheless urgent to act.
Liberals probably feared the wrath of groups like PolySeSouvient. This new extension of the amnesty for owners of assault weapons – who can keep them while waiting for the buyback program, without using them – was therefore discreetly listed on the government website. This did not prevent PolySeSouvient from deploring, publicly in its case, the fact that “there has been no tangible progress on the ground linked to the repeated promises of this government”.
The results are in fact mixed. The Liberals still banned 1,500 brands and models of assault weapons by regulation three years ago. They are trying to perpetuate this prohibition with their Bill C-21 — and also to freeze the sale, purchase and transfer of handguns. History has shown, however, that these actions can easily be terminated. This is how the Conservatives, with a parliamentary majority, abolished the Liberal long gun registry ten years ago.
In the absence of a purchase by Ottawa and a subsequent destruction of assault weapons, Pierre Poilievre’s conservatives could well in turn repeal or cancel this proscription of the Liberals. The Conservative leader, who avoids commenting on any contentious subject, will one day have to reveal his intentions.
Indeed, with this new amnesty, the Trudeau government is giving itself until October 30, 2025. That is, ten days after the scheduled date of the next federal election, at the end of which polls predict (if the trend continues) a majority Conservative government. And the elections could obviously come much earlier.
If the buyback program takes too long, there will still be time to see it abolished by another government, assault weapons owners hope. Given the speed at which the Liberals are progressing, it is clear that, in the absence of a serious change, their wish could be granted.
The first phase, targeting retailers and manufacturers, has not even started. To date, not a single assault weapon has yet been repurchased! Worse, the government does not know how to target the date on which this work will finally begin. Even less the date on which the owners will also be forced to comply. There is cause for concern.
The case has experienced many twists and turns under the leadership of former Minister Marco Mendicino of Public Security. The creation of the buyback program has stalled, so to speak. Bill C-21 was almost derailed; an amendment banning nearly 500 new models of firearms had to be withdrawn. The definition of “assault weapons” has also been watered down, becoming only prospective. Tabled 17 months ago, C-21 is barely beginning its study in the Senate.
Abroad, other governments have nevertheless proceeded in a fraction of the three years that Justin Trudeau’s government has taken to achieve. Australia collected more than 600,000 assault weapons in one year in 1996-1997. New Zealand requisitioned more than 56,000 of them (and nearly 200,000 spare parts) in the space of six months in 2019. Some unregistered weapons inevitably remained in circulation, but tens of thousands of others were at least as for them, they were withdrawn. These programs cost 430 million and 82 million Canadian dollars respectively.
And this is what stumbles. The parliamentary budget officer estimated two years ago that the assault weapons buyback program could cost up to $750 million. The total bill would, however, be even higher, since it is also necessary to plan for the shipping of these weapons, the evaluation of their condition and their market value, as well as their destruction.
In these times of sudden budgetary austerity, and as Canadians struggle to pay their bills, the Finance Cabinet fears that such an expense will be difficult to justify. However, if the Liberals had not delayed so long, the file would have been completed long before finding itself hampered today by these new fiscal constraints.
The inertia has lasted long enough. The inability of this government to simultaneously manage the multitude of crises it faces can no longer lead to public policies like this one — which, let us remember, having the support of a majority of citizens — being constantly postponed.