Premier Smith Says Alberta Won’t Cooperate With Federal Gun Buyback Program

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her province won’t participate in the Liberal government’s gun buyback program and that its municipal police forces will focus on “real” policing priorities.

“Alberta’s government will not be cooperating with this gun grab against law abiding firearms owners,” Smith said in a Sept. 23 X post. “We expect law enforcement to focus their time and resources on real provincial policing priorities, like policing violent criminals, not hunters and sport-shooters.”

The Liberal government has launched its gun buyback program for individual firearm owners, starting with a six-week pilot in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where the local police service has agreed to participate in the program.

The program will then be launched nationwide later this fall and will be open to all eligible firearm owners, federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said at a Sept. 23 press conference. He said there are approximately 180,000 registered firearms in Canada that are subject to the prohibition.

Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis issued a Sept. 23 joint statement calling the buyback program an ineffective and expensive “confiscation scheme.” They have called on the Liberal government to end the program.

“The Liberal government should end this program, which will waste over $700 million and counting and directly attacks firearms owners, and instead prioritize measures that will actually keep Canadians safe,” the statement reads.

The ministers said the Alberta government opposes “any policy that undermines law-abiding firearms owners,” adding that the buyback program won’t address illegal gun crime.

“Albertans and Canadians have been rightfully concerned that attacking law-abiding firearms owners does not address the spike in illegal gun crime under the federal Liberal government,” the statement says. The ministers said the program is “not about public safety.”

Leaked Audio

The Alberta ministers also referred to a leaked audio recording of  a private conversation Anandasangaree had with an acquaintance on Sept. 21 regarding the buyback program. Anandasangaree expressed doubt about the program during the conversation, saying he didn’t think municipal police forces would have the resources to enforce it. He had told reporters on Sept. 17 that the Ontario Provincial Police was refusing to participate in the program.

Anandasangaree was also heard in the recording saying the Liberal Party is carrying on with the program to maintain Quebec votes, and because it was part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election campaign earlier this year. The minister said he is simply carrying out a directive provided to him by Carney, who is following through on an initiative started by the previous Liberal government.

Amery and Ellis said Alberta’s government will not enforce the program and will make it clear to police services that “this is not an enforcement priority.”

“We will also continue to advocate for Alberta to regulate the legal use of firearms so Albertans can continue to own, collect and use firearms for sport shooting and hunting,” the ministers’ statement says.

They noted the province has already taken action to prevent anyone in Alberta from seizing, storing, or destroying firearms without a licence from the province’s Chief Firearms Officer. Municipalities are also prohibited from enacting “arbitrary patchwork firearms policies.”

‘Strictly Voluntary’

Anandasangaree told reporters on Sept. 23 that he has “absolute confidence” in the buyback program after being asked by reporters to explain the discrepancy between his private and public remarks. He has repeatedly said the program is “strictly voluntary” as no one is being “forced” to comply.

However, once the amnesty expires those who are still in possession of the prohibited firearms will be committing a criminal offence and could be imprisoned for up to five years, according to provisions in the Criminal Code.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government first banned approximately 1,500 makes and models of so-called “assault-style” firearms after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020, which involved stolen and smuggled weapons. The prohibited firearms list was expanded to more than 2,000 in March of this year.

The government put an amnesty in place in May 2020 to protect licensed gun owners and businesses from criminal liability and to allow them to comply with the law by turning in their prohibited firearms by April 30, 2022. The amnesty was extended to Oct. 30, 2023, and then was extended again, to Oct. 30, 2025. Anandasangaree told reporters on Sept. 23 the amnesty would be extended once more, to October of next year.

Carney told reporters on Sept. 23 the program aims to take “guns off the street in a voluntary fashion.” He noted his government’s decision to move forward with the program is fulfilling promises made in his election campaign and is “consistent with the decisions of Parliament.”