Conservatives are 'fearmongering' over assault-style gun ban: public safety minister
Conservatives are 'fearmongering' over assault-style gun ban: public safety minister
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA -
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is accusing the Conservatives of "whipping up fear" that the Liberal government is outlawing ordinary long guns and hunting rifles.
The government only wants to reinforce a regulatory ban on assault-style firearms such as the AR-15 by enshrining a definition in legislation, and it is prepared to work with MPs to get it right, Mendicino said in an interview.
"The government has no intention — no intention whatsoever — to go after long guns and hunting rifles," he said. "And this is simply Conservative fearmongering."
In May 2020, the Liberal government announced a ban through order-in-council on more than 1,500 models and variants of what it considers assault-style firearms, such as the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14.
The Liberals recently proposed including an evergreen definition of a prohibited assault-style firearm in gun-control legislation being studied by the House of Commons public safety committee.
The description is intended to ensure gun manufacturers can't tweak designs of prohibited firearms in a bid to get around the ban and reintroduce them to the Canadian market.
Among other technical specifications, the proposed definition includes a centrefire semi-automatic rifle or shotgun designed to accept a detachable magazine that can hold more than five cartridges.
The Conservatives claim the government's amendment amounts to the most significant hunting rifle ban in the history of Canada.
At the committee last week, Conservative MP Glen Motz said the definition would effectively prohibit hundreds of thousands of firearms, including many non-restricted guns.
Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho said the party was closely examining the latest list of firearms, tabled as an amendment, to be covered by the ban.
She specifically objected to inclusion of the Simonov SKS.
"The SKS is is a very popular hunting rifle in the Indigenous community. So I'm very interested to see what they think about this," Dancho told the committee last Thursday.
"It's very insulting to insinuate that hunters in this country have weapons of war when they're perfectly legitimate tools that they've been using for well over a century."
Mendicino said any new models that fall under the prohibition are consistent with the criteria laid out more than two years ago when the regulatory ban was announced.
But he also indicated a willingness to address any concerns about the bill's wording.
"I said that I am always open to working with all members of Parliament — on the committee, in the House — to make sure that we get this right. But we will not compromise on prohibiting assault-style firearms of the AR-15 variety because they have no place in our communities."
The public safety committee's clause-by-clause consideration of the firearms bill quickly became bogged down in debate over the assault-style provisions. Members are expected to resume review of the bill this week.
It is no surprise that Conservatives are stirring up the fears of law-abiding gun owners "because they've never had a plan," Mendicino said.
"And the only thing they appear to be proposing is to make assault-style firearms legal again, which would be a step backwards and place at greater risk the lives of Canadians."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2022.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he’s invited premiers to Ottawa for a 'working meeting' to discuss a health-care funding deal, on Feb. 7.
As the minority Liberals plot out their policy moves ahead of the 2023 parliamentary sitting, weighing heavily are commitments Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh that have to be acted on this year in order to uphold the two-party confidence-and-supply deal. Here is what needs to get done to keep the deal alive.
Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem says he thinks Canada is 'turning the corner' on inflation, but he isn't ruling out that the country could enter a 'mild recession.' In an English-language broadcast exclusive interview with CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier, Macklem encouraged Canadians to prepare a 'buffer' to withstand 'tougher times.'
After six weeks, more than 70 witnesses, and the submission of more than 7,000 documents into evidence, the public hearing portion of the Public Order Emergency Commission wrapped up on Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with CTV National News Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina for a year-end interview to reflect on the political shifts experienced in 2022, and to contemplate the challenges ahead in 2023. Here is a full transcript of the interview.
Like Jacinda Ardern, Justin Trudeau’s early handling of the pandemic was a reassuring communications exercise where harsh isolation measures went down easier with a hefty helping of government support, Don Martin writes in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca. 'But like the New Zealand Prime Minister, the Canadian PM's best days are arguably behind him. '
The Standing Committee on Transport gathered Thursday with MPs demanding an explanation for how that highly unusual Canadian winter combination of heavy snow and cold temperatures which delayed or cancelled thousands of post-pandemic reunions. What they got was a gold-medal finger-pointing performance, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
From a more coherent public health and carbon tax position, to cutting the 'Freedom Convoy' connection and smiling more, Pierre Poilievre has seven New Year's resolutions to woo the voters in 2023, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Hope was in short supply just ten weeks ago on this 10-kilometre spit of sand at the end of the migration route for tens of thousands of Canadian snowbirds, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca from Florida's Fort Myers Beach. But there are signs, he says, things may return to normal much faster than anyone expected.
Mass shootings have commanded public attention on a disturbingly frequent basis across the U.S., from a supermarket slaying in Buffalo, New York, to an elementary school tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, to a recent shooting at a California dance hall.
Health Canada says it will continue to recommend COVID-19 prevention drug, Evulsheld, despite U.S. FDA pulling back its emergency use authorization due to concerns around its efficacy against Omicron subvariant 'Kraken.'
W5 goes deep into the narco heartland to interview a commander with one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. W5's documentary 'Narco Avocados' airs Saturday at 7 pm on CTV.
Tyre Nichols was hospitalized after he was pulled over on January 7, police have said. Five Memphis Police Department officers, who also are Black, were fired after an internal investigation and are facing criminal charges, including second-degree murder.
When selling a home, Canadians may be exempted from paying capital gains tax on a residential property -- if it's their principal residence. On CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains what's determined as a principal residence, and what properties are eligible for the exemption.
Memphis authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother and pleaded, ''I'm just trying to go home.'
With a deal under negotiation between Ottawa and provinces, and premiers invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early February, the issue remains one where the Tory leader's position appears somewhat murky, including to some inside his own party.
Aryna Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title by coming back to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said.
While the deadline to file your taxes is months away, there are some personal tax credits Ontarians may qualify for that require some time pilfering through receipts to get them.
People can pay tribute to former Ontario lieutenant-governor David Onley this weekend as he lies in state for two days at the legislature before his funeral Monday.
A review has been launched after police officers were recorded restraining a handcuffed Indigenous child on the floor of a Vancouver hospital – an incident the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has denounced as "horrendous."
Freedom rally supporters are expected to congregate near the southern Alberta border town of Coutts on Saturday and RCMP officials say motorists in the area should expect to face highway delays.
In an emotional and powerful speech at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event in Ottawa, a survivor stressed the importance of remembering the millions of victims murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War and underscored the need to stand up against anti-semitism and hate.
Mass shootings have commanded public attention on a disturbingly frequent basis across the U.S., from a supermarket slaying in Buffalo, New York, to an elementary school tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, to a recent shooting at a California dance hall.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said.
Authorities in West Australia were searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth, officials said Saturday.
Video released publicly Friday shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggling with his assailant for control of a hammer moments before he was struck in the head during a brutal attack in the couple's San Francisco home last year.
A 13-year-old Palestinian attacker opened fire in east Jerusalem on Saturday. The shooting in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem, near the historic Old City, wounded a father and son, ages 47 and 23, paramedics said.
The head of the Canada Revenue Agency says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible pandemic wage benefit payments flagged by Canada's Auditor General.
Members of Parliament are making their way back to Ottawa ahead of resuming sitting on Monday, as the city prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of the arrival of 'Freedom Convoy' protesters.
With a deal under negotiation between Ottawa and provinces, and premiers invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early February, the issue remains one where the Tory leader's position appears somewhat murky, including to some inside his own party.
Health Canada says it will continue to recommend COVID-19 prevention drug, Evulsheld, despite U.S. FDA pulling back its emergency use authorization due to concerns around its efficacy against Omicron subvariant 'Kraken.'
A new survey suggests the vast majority of Canadians have concerns about the state of the health-care system, particularly in Atlantic provinces where hospitals have struggled to maintain emergency services for months. Leger and The Association for Canadian Studies surveyed 1,554 Canadian adults over a two-day period in January.
What looks like a giant teddy bear’s face peering into space from the surface of Mars is actually a satellite image of some craters and a circular fracture, scientists say.
Nvidia Corp Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang on Tuesday said that the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence will create powerful tools that require legal regulation and social norms that have yet to be worked out.
A chance discovery by an Edmonton area woman who was walking her dogs has turned out to be a massive fossilized bone that likely belonged to an Ice Age mammoth.
BookTok is all abuzz with the news that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will be starring in a movie based on the bestselling romance novel, "It Ends With Us."
Italian designer Sabato De Sarno has been named the new creative director of Gucci, and will unveil his first collection during Milan Fashion Week next September, Gucci and parent company Kering announced Saturday.
Pamela Anderson is addressing discussion about a story regarding her 'Home Improvement' co-star Tim Allen that is part of her new memoir, 'Love Pamela.'
Italy's prime minister visited Libya for talks Saturday with officials from the country's west-based government focusing on energy and migration, top issues for Italy and the European Union. Libya is the third North African country Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited over the last two weeks as she seeks to secure new supplies of natural gas.
A pair of senior U.S. senators is urging the Biden administration to get tough with Canada for "flouting" obligations to its North American trade partners.
Though you won't be able to sit on the old, cracked pleather benches and take in the thick smell of gravy and fries, while the gentle sound of clanging dishes provides the soundtrack for your lunch, Zellers plans to roll out food trucks for those 'craving a taste of nostalgia.'
Italian designer Sabato De Sarno has been named the new creative director of Gucci, and will unveil his first collection during Milan Fashion Week next September, Gucci and parent company Kering announced Saturday.
Aryna Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title by coming back to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults.
The outrage, frustration, sadness and anger was evident around the NBA on Friday, the day that video was released showing how Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was killed by five Memphis police officers. Several teams released statements of support for the family, as did the National Basketball Players Association.
Hyundai cars in Canada don't have the same anti-theft issue compared to those in the United States, a company spokesperson says, following reports that two American auto insurers are refusing to write policies for older models.
Progressive and State Farm, two of America's largest auto insurers, are refusing to write policies in certain cities for some older Hyundai and Kia models that have been deemed too easy to steal, according to one of the insurance companies and media reports.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
