Tucked away in the Liberal government’s fall economic statement is a commitment to throw an additional $597.9 million over three years in taxpayer funds to confiscate guns from law-abiding firearms owners.
The gun buyback scheme was already projected to surpass $100 million by 2025 despite the government not collecting a single gun since the plan’s announcement.
“The government respects and will not infringe upon the rights of lawful gun owners and recognizes the fundamental importance of firearms, such as hunting rifles and shotguns, to the way of life for many rural Canadians, farmers, and Indigenous hunters,” reads the Fall Economic Statement.
However, Tracey Wilson, the vice president of public relations for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, told True North that the $600 million over three years proves the Liberals aren’t serious about confiscating firearms from Canadians.
“The projected costs of the ‘buyback’ confiscation program are projected to blow into the billions with the number of guns affected,” said Wilson. “$200M a year indicates they are allocating a trickle of what would be really necessary to carry out a full confiscation.”
She added that she expects the Liberals to continue with willing retailers who’ve been sitting on inventory they can’t sell and are forced to spend money for storage and insurance.
“They’re an easy first target, and the Liberals will tout it as ‘progress,’” she said.
The fall economic statement reiterated that Canada intends to donate any confiscated firearms to Ukraine.
Wilson criticized the idea of donating sporting rifles to Ukraine as “ridiculous” and “entirely performative.”
“I think it’s an attempt to reinforce the notion that these guns are ‘weapons of war.’ No military in the world uses semi-auto, 5-round plinkers in battle,” she said. “Not to mention you can’t export these guns without approval from the countries of origin, most of whom have weapons contracts with Ukraine.”
Most of the weapons used in crimes in Canada continue to be smuggled from the United States. For example, a record firearm bust in Peel consisted of 97% of illegal firearms smuggled across Canada’s southern border.
The Liberals’ most recent update on its long gun ban added 324 firearms to the original list of 1,500 that were banned under Bill C-21 in 2020. The legislation passed through the Senate last year.
Prohibitions on the firearms mean that they can no longer be legally possessed, sold, or imported into Canada and can only be transferred or transported in unique circumstances.
The Liberals said they are working to implement Bill C-21, and the remaining provisions fully will come into effect no later than Jan. 2025.
Prairie Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Gage Haubrich responded on X to Wilson’s post highlighting the budget lines, adding that the Parliamentary Budget Officer said paying for the guns will cost Canadian taxpayers $756 million.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg for what this expensive and ineffective scheme could end up costing taxpayers,” said Haubrich.
Wilson added that the program was a complete waste of taxpayer funds while taxpayers face tariff threats from President-elect Donald Trump due to Canada’s border issues.
Legal firearm owners were previously granted an amnesty period until Oct. 30, 2025, encompassing the newest models.
Wilson said collecting the more than 650,000 guns from hundreds of thousands of owners across Canada’s massive geographic territory was an impossible task and that the Liberals would extend the amnesty if they remained in office.
The fall economic statement showcased a deficit of $61.9 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which is over 50% higher than the limit Chrystia Freeland previously promised to abide by.
“The Liberals continue to use legal firearms owners and businesses as a punching bag for political gain. They’ve learned absolutely nothing from their tanking polling despite the desperate channel changer of more gun control,” said Wilson.
“The CCFR looks forward to a decision out of the federal court of appeals on the legality of these continued attacks on Canada’s most vetted citizens. We’ll never stop fighting these people. It’s time for a new government.”
English