OTTAWA - A new advertisement pushed out on Thursday by the Liberal Party to advocate for increased gun control shows a number of Conservative candidates holding or firing guns, with added voiceover that the Tories "Won’t do what needs to be done" to protect Canadians from firearms.
The video, which also airs as a radio advertisement, starts with images of former Toronto police chief and the minister responsible for tackling organized crime, Bill Blair, touting his party’s new policy measure announced last Friday to ban "military-style" assault rifles from public use.
It then skips to an image of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer speaking at a gun lobby event and then shooting a hunting rifle -- a firearm that wouldn’t be banned under the Liberal's proposed gun control policy.
Tory candidate Michelle Rempel – a vocal advocate for legal firearm ownership – is also shown holding an assault rifle.
But what it doesn’t show are the many Liberal candidates who have also posed with guns or promoted their use.
Candidate for Cariboo-Prince George, B.C., Tracy Calogheros posted a series of photos – one of which includes a pistol – on Facebook in 2014 saying “Today was a Republican kind of day in North Carolina…shot a 9mm then upped the ante to try a sub machine gun!”
In an interview with CTVNews.ca, Calogheros confirmed she has a restricted and non-restricted license. “Yes, I have fired guns,” she said. “I’m a firearms holder and hunter.”
She said she supports her party’s plan to strengthen gun protections.
"I very much look forward to the forthcoming information and definitions around the semi-automatic assault rifles ban. It is a discussion that needs to happen, and it needs to include the rural and northern voice," Calogheros shared in a Facebook post following the Liberal announcement.
Below, Ron McKinnon the candidate for Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam in B.C., is seen shooting an AR-15 at the Port Coquitlam & District Hunting and Fishing Club.
The post in part reads: "…Mr. McKinnon heard from members about the differences in classification and the licensing regime necessary to own, transport and shoot a restricted firearm like this."
Yvonne Jones, longtime Liberal MP and candidate for Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, also spent some time “on the [shooting] range with colleagues supporting outdoor industry and target competition” as seen in a Twitter post.
CTVNews.ca also reached out to McKinnon and Jones for comment, and at the time this article was published, neither had responded.
Blair, at the end of the video, says "soon you’ll have a choice, let the Conservatives weaken our gun control laws, or make your community safer by making gun laws stronger."
In an email response to CTVNews.ca, Conservative party spokesperson Simon Jefferies said "The Trudeau Liberals are hypocrites, who will do or say anything to cling to power. Plain and simple, they are not as advertised.
Hopefully these three Liberal candidates, who seem like responsible, law-abiding firearms owners, will do the right thing and support real action to tackle gun and gang crime – while standing in support of the hunters, farmers and sport shooters who are being unfairly targeted by Justin Trudeau," he said.
Since the Liberals made their announcement, critics argued the plan doesn’t go far enough to prevent the kind of mass shootings that have occurred in Toronto, for instance, over the last several years.
The shooter implicated in the Danforth shooting in July, 2018, used a stolen handgun that killed two people and injured 13 others. When pressed on this, Blair said their measures would also reinforce personal and commercial storage laws.
Over the course of the last year, city councils, advocacy groups, and politicians at all levels have tried to promote a nation-wide handgun ban and Toronto Mayor John Tory said he would continue to push for this, even after the Liberals’ announcement.
Tory Leader Andrew Scheer, for his part, has said his party’s plan instead goes after “real criminals” and “illegal firearms” as opposed to those who have gone through the lawful process to ownership.
"It's easy to ask law abiding Canadians to follow more laws. It's harder to go after the criminals and illegal firearms. Conservatives are ready to do the hard work that will actually improve safety in our communities," said Scheer at a campaign stop last week in Saint John, New Brunswick.
CORRECTION: Liberal candidate Tracy Calogheros says she is an advocate for individual rights. A previous version of this article misstated that Calogheros respects an individual’s right to carry. CTVNews.ca regrets the error.
With files from CTV News' Glen McGregor
