Canada is banning the importation of handguns, effective Aug. 19
The Canadian government is moving to ban the importation of restricted handguns, effective Aug. 19.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced Friday that the federal government has decided to push ahead with the importation ban without the approval of Parliament, moving to make the policy change through regulatory restrictions.
The measure will prevent "nearly all" individuals and businesses from importing handguns into Canada, the government says.
Joly and Mendicino said Friday the coming regulations will effectively speed up aspects of the planned freeze. The move is temporary though, with plans for it to remain in effect only until the previously-promised permanent importation ban is passed in Ottawa.
"This ban is a stopgap while the handgun freeze in its entirety moves through the parliamentary process, preventing shelves from being restocked in the immediate term," Joly said.
While the details of the coming regulatory restrictions have yet to be released, Joly said she will be enacting her authority as the foreign affairs minister, which allows her to deny any export or import permit application, citing security concerns.
"Working with Marco, we came up with this idea of creating this new system of requiring permits, but meanwhile, we will deny any permits from any commercial entity or people wanting to bring handguns to Canada," Joly said. "So this is how creatively we've worked, and that's why we're talking today about an import ban."
In late May, the Liberals tabled Bill C-21, legislation which if passed would further restrict legal access to handguns in Canada. The bill includes a specific section that stops short of a complete ban, opting instead for a national "freeze" on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns in Canada that allows current legal owners to keep theirs.
Bill C-21 also seeks to create systems to flag individuals who may pose a risk to themselves or others, and increase the maximum penalties for firearm-related offences such as firearm smuggling and trafficking.
The incoming regulations announced Friday will include "narrow exceptions that mirror those in Bill C-21," the government said.
Joly said that the Liberals have decided to do this because when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Bill C-21, there was an "uptick" in guns being purchased in Canada, and handguns in particular.
"We want to prevent that. That is why we're announcing this import ban… We know that the vast majority of handguns in the country are imported, as there's no handgun producer in the country," Joly said.
The legislation is still in the early stages of moving through Parliament, with MPs set to initiate a committee study of the bill when the fall House of Commons sitting begins in late September.
On Friday, Mendicino reiterated his desire to see the legislation pass "as quickly as possible."
"I'm continuing to call on all MPs to read the bill, to study the bill and to put it into law as quickly as possible. We've made some good headway… Unfortunately, it's the Conservatives who continue to obstruct the passage of this bill," the minister said.
The Conservatives have routinely denied claims of stalling government bills, accusing the minority Liberal government of being inept managers of the legislative agenda.
In a statement reacting to the news, Conservative MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho accused the government of "attacking business owners and law-abiding citizens."
“Instead of addressing the true source of gun crime in Canada, the Liberal government is unilaterally banning imports without parliamentary input, impacting a multi-billion dollar industry and thousands of retailers and small businesses, with very little notice," Dancho said. "Today’s announcement will do nothing to stop the flow of illegal handguns."
The Bloc Quebecois said Friday they welcome the decision, but lamented that action wasn’t taken immediately after Bill C-21 was announced to stem the flow of handguns into the country.
In a statement, Bloc MP and justice critic Rheal Fortin said more work needs to be done to combat gun crime, including tackling the number of handguns already in circulation in Canada through a handgun buyback program.
The Liberals are in the midst of implementing a gun buyback program, but it’s focused on as list of 1,500 various makes and models of what the government considers "assault-style" firearms.
According to the government, law enforcement agencies seized more than double the number of firearms at the border in 2021, compared to 2020.
The ministers suggested that from the moment the import restrictions come into effect, the number of handguns in Canada will only decrease, something gun control advocates are celebrating.
"A ban on imports will not end the purchase of handguns in Canada. However, this is a significant and creative measure that will unquestionably slow the expansion of the Canadian handgun market until Bill C-21 is adopted, hopefully this fall," said Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, in a statement.
With files from CTV News' Michael Lee
IN DEPTH
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Nine suspects arrested in $24M gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party
A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship.
Liberals must now sell a budget they say will help younger Canadians catch up
It's now up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up to their elders.
Ontario woman out $30K after investing in mortgage company accused of being unlicensed
An Ontario nurse is fighting to recover tens of thousands of dollars in savings she invested in a mortgage company that has since been accused of operating without a licence.
Canada is expected to win 22 medals at the Paris Olympics
Canada is expected to win a total of 22 medals, including six gold, at the Paris Summer Olympics, which open on July 26.
Local Spotlight
Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
Relocated seal returns to Greater Victoria after 'astonishing' 204-kilometre trek
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Ottawa barber shop steps away from Parliament Hill marks 100 years in business
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
'It was a special game': Edmonton pinball player celebrates high score and shout out from game designer
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
'How much time do we have?': 'Contamination' in Prairie groundwater identified
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
'Why not do it together?': Lifelong friends take part in 'brosectomy' in Vancouver
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
Grain-gobbling bears spark 'no stopping' zone in Banff National Park
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
Deer family appears to accept B.C. man as one of their own
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
Doorbell video shows family of black bears scared off by dog in Sudbury, Ont.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.