National Post (National Edition)
Withdrawal of gun ban amendments `humiliating climbdown' for Liberals
Feds walk back amendments to proposed laws
• Two contentious amendments to the Liberal government's controversial gun control legislation have been withdrawn — a move the opposition called a “humiliating climb-down” for the prime minister.
Gathering for the first time since their previous meeting was adjourned-in-progress in mid-December, the House standing committee on public safety and national security heard from MP Taleeb Noormohamed, who announced the government's intentions to withdraw amendments G4 and G46.
“In relation to a clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-21, an act to amend certain acts and to make certain consequential amendments, amendment G4, currently under consideration by the committee be deemed withdrawn, and that amendment G46, which has not yet been moved, be deemed withdrawn from the package of amendments,” he said.
“It's not our intention, as I noted, to move on G46.”
Liberal MP and committee member Paul Chiang tabled the contentious amendments in November, sweeping changes that would have outlawed currently legal rifles used daily by hunters and sport shooters.
Amendment G4 aims to expand the list of prohibited guns by including its definition to ban rifles and shotguns “...capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner and that is designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges of the type for which the firearms was originally designed.”
G46 is a voluminous, 300-page amendment cataloguing specifically banned firearms into the legislation, ranging from those banned in the 1990s through May 2020.
Government House Leader Mark Holland told reporters on Friday Bill C-21 was never meant to impact hunters, and admitted “gaps” in Liberal policy.
“It is not our intention to impact those that are hunting and using firearms for hunting, and we acknowledge and regret that the consultations that we undertook were not sufficient, and that there were gaps and problems in the amendments,” he said.
“That's why we retracted them.”
Opposition committee members accused the Liberals of piling C-21 with controversial amendments after the legislation was already at the committee stage.
“The way the Liberals introduced this amendment after we had completed our witness testimony, I think was a sign of bad faith,” New Democrat MP and committee member Alistair MacGregor told the National Post in an interview last month.
“Several of them have issued mea culpas, both publicly and to myself, and said that there was probably a better way they could have done this.”
MacGregor, who during Friday's meeting said he'd initially planned to table a motion to put the amendments before the Speaker, consented to the withdrawal.
“I appreciate the Liberals taking this step,” he said during the meeting.
The Conservatives, however, aren't convinced this represents the end of the story.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre described the amendment withdrawal as a “temporary but humiliating climbdown” for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Trudeau desperately wanted to ban hunting rifles,” he said, calling the amendments a “sucker punch” for Canada's licensed firearm owners.
“He was asked specifically if that was his goal, and he said yes.”
Year-end interviews with both CTV and CBC News saw the prime minister backtrack on repeated assurances that C-21 targets criminals, not law-abiding gun owners.
“I'll be entirely honest, there's some guns out there — not many, but some — that hunters are now using for hunting that are overpowered or have characteristics that make them assault-style weapons,” Trudeau told CBC News host Rosemary Barton in December.
“There are some people who hunt with a gun that is considered an assault-style weapon and will have to change weapons on that.”
In a year-end chat with CTV's Omar Sachedina, Trudeau said hunters are indeed using firearms “that we're going to have to take away from people.”
Conservative committee member Raquel Dancho called the amendments “underhanded” and represented the largest firearms ban in Canadian history.
“We fully believe that Trudeau will ultimately continue to attempt to ban hunting rifles in Canada,” she said.
“This is a temporary pause, and hunters should be made aware that the Trudeau Liberals will continue to come after their hunting rifles.”
Bloc Québécois committee member Kristina Michaud said the Liberals had mismanaged this file from the beginning — and called on the government to table reasonable legislation that targets criminals instead of hunters.
“Our demand is clear: the government must do more to remove military-style assault weapons from our homes and streets, while respecting the rights of hunters,” read the English translation of a statement issued early Friday afternoon. “It must define what constitutes an assault weapon rather than banning models on a caseby-case basis.”
Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) spokesperson Tracey Wilson was guardedly optimistic over the move, telling the National Post the move was a “small win” for Canadian hunters.
“It's a small win in the bigger battle,” she said.
“The focus of all public policy surrounding guns should have to do with reducing actual crime, violence and gun smuggling — not reducing legal gun ownership.”
The withdrawal all but ends the CCFR court challenge over the amendments, allowing the organization to focus on challenging the government's 2022 handgun ban, C-21's prohibition on airsoft and the sweeping May 2020 gun ban — the latter is scheduled for a hearing in federal court this April.
“I think they overstepped and they knew it,” Wilson said.
“The opposition was massive — I've never seen gun owners mobilize the way they did. Even the NDP, the Bloc, even Liberal MPs were opposing it.”
The loudest opposition to the amendments within the Liberal caucus came from Yukon MP Brendan Hanley, who late last year said he wouldn't be supporting Bill C-21 as is, calling the bill “upsetting.”
Indigenous organizations were also vocal in their concern over the amendments, with the Assembly of First Nations passing an emergency resolution last month in opposition, saying the hunting gun ban would infringe on treaty sustenance hunting rights.
IT IS NOT OUR INTENTION TO IMPACT THOSE THAT ARE ... USING FIREARMS FOR HUNTING