The Liberal Gun Grab is Just Plain Wrong
Last May, with an Order in Council, while Parliament was suspended, a plethora of firearms became prohibited in Canada, and with it, the lawful owners of those firearms became criminals, unless they turn over their property to the federal government, at some undetermined date, and for an undetermined rate of compensation. Firearms that were selected were based on arbitrary rationale, predominantly one may assume on what the firearm “Looks Like”, as it really didn’t consider the operation of the firearm, it’s use, its caliber, but with the rationale to the unknowing public as a matter of increasing their “Safety”.
The Salt in the wound, is that following the order in council, many more firearms have been added to the original list, but they have not disclosed publicly. One has to search the firearms reference tables to see what other target, hunting, or long-range / dangerous (sic) game rifles have been added to the list.
In addition, original FRT designations have been rescinded, further overreach by federally appointed CFO’s that are non-compliant with existing legislation brought(remove) passed by the previous conservative federal government.
This is a clear abrogation of property rights, and freedoms of directed toward what are arguably the most law-abiding citizens of our country. Recently, when the Federal Conservative Party, supported by the Bloc Quebecois, tried to introduce legislation to increase the severity of punishment available for those who smuggle illegal firearms, or who are in the possession of them, it was voted down by the same Liberal party, with the support of the Green, and NDP parties.
A true practical, common sense approach to address the real public safety issue was not supported. In short, the government of the day would rather(remove) punish the law-abiding citizens, but will not bolster the laws to capture or punish the criminals, who are the real threats to public safety.
Last fall I had the painful honor of attending an event held out at Cardiff Park, which is located a short distance to the south east of Morinville, Alberta. I say painful, because it was an event to dedicate a bench, and the planting of an oak tree to a victim of the Colchester Shooting in Nova Scotia.
One of the ladies that was killed has a sister who lives in the Cardiff area. The emotions were high, somber, and a very grief-stricken group of Albertans were in attendance. My heart ached for them, and my frustration only increased when I considered the federal government’s response to this tragic event that touched so many Canadian souls.
Giving a speech as an elected official at an event usually is because of something good but this was far from it. I gave my speech from the heart knowing full well the liberal gun grab did nothing to stop something like this from happening again. It did not recognize the root issues, and will not make a single Canadian safer because of it. In any other industry if there were multiple fatalities, and the root cause was not addressed and the legislation changed, it would be criminal negligence. You need to look no further than the Westray mine disaster where people were killed, rules changed, and thousands of
Canadians are safer because of it.
This OIC is nothing of the sort, it is virtue signaling at best.
I had the honor of being named by government to serve on the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee, where myself and my colleagues are listening to the advice of Albertans from our telephone townhalls.
In addition, we received over thirty-seven thousand online survey responses providing
recommendations on how we can best support Albertans when it comes to firearms. It should also be noted that there was a great percentage of participants that did not own firearms themselves.
On one of the townhall calls I admitted to the audience that “I had a problem”. You see I made a promise to the family and friends of their loved one who was killed in Colchester that I would do everything I could to stop that from happening again. A tall order, but I believe that as an MLA, and member of that task force I can bring attention to the real issues, while ensuring that the property rights and freedoms of Albertans are maintained.
Based on the information, feedback, and input from the calls and surveys, immediate action was undertaken to establish our own provincially appointed, and managed Chief Firearms Officer.
The office will be based here in Alberta, and will ensure that the laws that are to be enforced are with an “Albertan Perspective” which has a strong respect for property rights, and the freedoms that are cherished in our province. Education will also be a key component, as well as training and education for the general public.
We are taking applications currently for the CFO position, and the office will be up
and running by summer of this year. Alberta’s government understands that we can’t make good policy without consulting Albertans first, we were elected by you and we serve at you. Let me assure you myself and my colleagues are going to use every single tool in the tool box to protect law-abiding firearm owners in this province.
I am proud to bring common-sense back into this piece of Alberta’s legislation because we want to make life better for Albertans. I will continue working hard every day to follow through on our promises and commitments to Albertans.
We are not finished on this file. I have a promise to keep, and this is just the first step in our attempt to correct a course that we have been thrown upon by the federal government, and federally appointed
CFO’s. We need to get to the root issue when it comes to firearms safety, and bolster and enforce the existing firearms laws when it comes to those that illegally possess, or traffic them. We should not to try and take away the ones that “Look Scary” based on arbitrary rational, or by those who are not familiar with the firearms themselves.
We will do all that we can to protect property rights for the current firearms owners, and for future firearms owners. We want to ensure that these rights and freedoms remain in our province for generations to come. Education will be key to correcting the misinformation that is out there in the general public and which allowed this OIC to happen in the first place.
We will bring forth legislation that will ensure municipalities are unable to ban firearms ownership that the federal liberal government has hinted they would encourage. We heard our constituents loud and clear, less Ottawa, way more Alberta.
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to my office at
lacsteanne.parkland@assembly.ab.ca
