Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro has pushed back on the federal firearms confiscation program.

Here's the statement he released yesterday, Tuesday Jan. 10, 2023:

 

“Last week, Minister Mendicino admitted that the federal government has still not figured out how to implement their firearms confiscation program.

“This admission comes shortly after the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police called on the federal government to not to use police services to confiscate firearms.

“Now, media reports have drawn attention to a federal government memo that outlines Minister Mendicino’s plans to confiscate firearms across Canada.

“The memo admits that efforts to find private sector companies to implement the federal firearms confiscation program failed this summer.

“With no private sector companies willing to participate, the memo outlines how the RCMP will first be deployed to Prince Edward Island (PEI), which has been deemed to be an easy ‘low-risk’ target.

“The federal government is treating PEI as a ‘pilot’ that will help them learn on the job as they implement their confiscation plan through trial and error.

“This ‘program’ is expected to cost a billion dollars or more and has supposedly been in the works for three years.

“Despite a mountain of money and years worth of lead time, Ottawa appears to be lost – especially given their latest attack on hunting rifles and shotguns – at minimum, they should proactively extend the amnesty that is currently scheduled to end in October 2023.

“Such a decision, however, would involve showing Canadian firearms owners a measure of decency, something that Minister Mendicino and this federal government is seemingly incapable of.”