Interim RCMP commissioner would support Criminal Code changes for stricter gun laws
Interim RCMP commissioner would support Criminal Code changes for stricter gun laws
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
Duheme — who took over the RCMP’s top job earlier this month — told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, he is in favour of legislative changes for stricter gun measures that would be geared at improving safety for law enforcement and citizens.
“Any amendment to the Criminal Code that makes it safer for us to operate, and for the population, I think that's always a really good thing,” he said. “And I would be very supportive of that.”
While Duheme said that as of Friday he hadn’t yet read the 3,000-page Mass Casualty Commission report in its entirety, he said he’s “committed to going through the entire document,” and principle supports the legislative changes recommended in it.
The Mass Casualty Commission makes 130 recommendations, many of them detailing the need for RCMP reform, as well as listing a series of “failures” by law enforcement, after a more than two-year examination of the worst mass shooting in Canadian history, which left 22 people dead in April 2020.
Duheme said he is working through the report, starting with the section dedicated to policing and the need for “significant changes” to the RCMP.
“I'm also committed to make sure that all the recommendations that are there, that we follow up on them, that we show progress on the recommendations, and that the general public can follow the progress of the recommendation, the work we're doing,” he said. “That to me is building trust … on the accountability side with Nova Scotians and Canadians.”
When asked about specific recommendations, particularly those related to “reducing access to the most dangerous, high-capacity firearms and ammunition,” Duheme said he agrees in principle.
The report suggests several Criminal Code changes, including to prohibit specific semi-automatic handguns and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, and to limit the size of firearms’ magazines.
“I have not read that specific recommendation, but any measures that would be brought forward to ensure that the public safety is safer, I am very supportive of,” Duheme said, when pressed on whether restrictions on people’s ability to access certain firearms or ammunition would lead to better outcomes.
The Liberals have committed in successive elections to move forward on gun control measures.
Shortly after the shootings in Nova Scotia in 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on 1,500 assault-style weapons, including weapons used by the perpetrator.
And, a Liberal proposal to further tighten gun laws to include “red flag” provisions and restrict legal access to handguns remains before Parliament, after a proposed amendment to enshrine in law a definition for "assault-style" weapons, became a point of contention.
Trudeau on Thursday thanked the commissioners for their work, and said his government would be reading the report to figure out next steps on the recommendations.
“We will take the time now to properly digest and understand the recommendations, and the conclusions, and the opportunities that the commission has put forward for us to take up,” he said. “There's no question there need to be changes, and there will be, but we will take the time to get those right."
With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko and CTVNews.ca’s Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
The battle against hundreds of wildfires continues, as almost every jurisdiction in Canada remains under either heat or air quality warnings from the federal government. The day after what was supposed to be national Clean Air Day, dozens of alerts remain in place for unseasonable heat or smoky air quality.
An official recommendation to wear a mask to protect yourself from wildfire smoke is being echoed by health experts as plumes of smoke make their way across parts of Canada, causing poor air quality.
A leader of the fight to secure freedom for a Canadian human-rights activist detained in China for 17 years is taking the latest diplomatic deep-freeze between Ottawa and Beijing in stride.
Internal emails from the agency tasked with regulating the price of patented drugs in Canada shows discord and division was sparked by a letter from the health minister, culminating in an indefinite pause on major drug-price reforms and several resignations.
Aviation experts say Canada is losing expertise in the manufacturing of water bombers -- just as demand for them is increasing. The Canadair CL-415, a purpose-built water bomber, was last produced in 2015.
The man who was found not criminally responsible in the stabbing deaths of five people at a house party in Brentwood more than nine years ago is seeking more freedoms.
Some of the world's top players are teeing off at the RBC Canadian Open today amid the hotly debated LIV Golf-PGA Tour controversy that shook the golf world this week.
Heat or air quality warnings countrywide, new Nanos polling shows most Canadians support an inquiry into foreign interference, and the Bank of Canada hikes rates again.
About 300 infants, toddlers and older children have been rescued from an orphanage in Sudan's capital after being trapped there while fighting raged outside, aid officials said Thursday. The evacuation came after 71 children died from hunger and illness in the facility since mid-April.
Hundreds of American firefighters have recently arrived in Canada to help battle wildfires and more are on the way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
A man who helped return a 140-year-old Tlingit robe to the British Columbia First Nation where it was created says it's as if the regalia called out to its people and they are bringing it home.
An Ontario man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, after she was gunned down at the wheel of her car in Montreal last month.
The man who was found not criminally responsible in the stabbing deaths of five people at a house party in Brentwood more than nine years ago is seeking more freedoms.
In the first study of its kind to tie survey data to health records, researchers found that bisexual women were three times more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual women.
Thousands of Canadians have had to leave their homes in several provinces over the last few weeks due to forest fires. Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect your property, both prior to an evacuation and during.
An attacker with a knife stabbed several young children and at least one adult, leaving some with life-threatening injuries, in a bucolic lakeside park in a town in the French Alps on Thursday before he was arrested, authorities said.
About 300 infants, toddlers and older children have been rescued from an orphanage in Sudan's capital after being trapped there while fighting raged outside, aid officials said Thursday. The evacuation came after 71 children died from hunger and illness in the facility since mid-April.
Five residents of a Russian-occupied city next to a breached dam have died in massive flooding triggered by the catastrophe, its Kremlin-appointed mayor said Thursday, the first official report of deaths from one of the largest environmental crises since Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago.
Philippine officials on Thursday raised the alert level for one of the country's most active volcanoes after superheated streams of gas, debris and rocks cascaded down its upper slope in a condition they fear could lead to a hazardous eruption within days or weeks.
In a courageous display of resistance, a group of Afghan women activists danced in Kabul as a form of protest in a country where women are banned from attending school, work and even going to parks.
A missing-persons activist in western Mexico said Wednesday that call center workers have been going missing in Mexico since at least 2017, and that authorities have done little to solve the cases.
A leader of the fight to secure freedom for a Canadian human-rights activist detained in China for 17 years is taking the latest diplomatic deep-freeze between Ottawa and Beijing in stride.
Canadians are twice as likely to support a formal inquiry into foreign interference, as opposed to public hearings, according to new polling from Nanos Research for CTV News.
Hazy skies tinged with an eery yellow glow greeted millions of Canadians in Quebec and Ontario again Wednesday as the smoke from hundreds of wildfires continued to cause air quality warnings in Canada's most populated corridor. In a bizarre twist of fate, on a day when air quality was among the worst the country has ever seen, it was national Clean Air Day in Canada.
As forest fires rage across the country, experts are sounding the alarm over the physical and psychological impacts of the wildfires and saying that they pose a serious public health issue, which individuals and governments need to acknowledge and act upon.
Internal emails from the agency tasked with regulating the price of patented drugs in Canada shows discord and division was sparked by a letter from the health minister, culminating in an indefinite pause on major drug-price reforms and several resignations.
Being a 'sleep procrastinator' might not only make you grumpy the next day, it can put your health at risk. A sleep expert shares tips for making sure bedtime is shut-eye time.
The James Webb Space Telescope set its sights on a galaxy 20 million light-years away, capturing a dazzling star-forming galaxy in images streaked with the signature of passing asteroids.
Reporters are a skeptical bunch, so it was unusual to hear so many of them raving about their firsthand experience with Apple's next Big Thing: the high-priced headset called Vision Pro, a device infused with totally virtual reality as well as augmented reality that projects digital images on top of real-world settings.
As artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT offer new tools for creativity and content creation, one company is using AI-powered software in tandem with classic literature in a way you might not expect.
An actor known for his roles on the comedy television shows "Bob's Burgers" and "Mr. Show with Bob and David" was arrested Wednesday on charges that he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in confronting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot, court records show.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by the network following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.
Aviation experts say Canada is losing expertise in the manufacturing of water bombers -- just as demand for them is increasing. The Canadair CL-415, a purpose-built water bomber, was last produced in 2015.
Montana became the first state in the U.S. to enact a complete ban on TikTok on Wednesday when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a measure that's more sweeping than any other state's attempts to curtail the social media app, which is owned by a Chinese tech company.
Years ago, when my now-grown daughter Justine was a toddler, we visited a U-pick farm where she plucked plump, ripe strawberries from a field of sprawling plants. Some made it into the basket on that sunny June day; others went directly into her mouth.
With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.
Some of the world's top players are teeing off at the RBC Canadian Open today amid the hotly debated LIV Golf-PGA Tour controversy that shook the golf world this week.
Brittney Griner had a Texas homecoming, in private and on the court with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA star's home state six months after her release from a Russian prison.
Insurance industry group Equite Association says vehicle theft in multiple provinces surged last year. Vehicle theft was up by 50 per cent in Quebec year over year, by 48.3 per cent in Ontario, by 34.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 18.3 per cent in Alberta.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday formally pleaded not guilty to a fraud charge over his alleged failure to declare millions of dollars held in a trust in Singapore to Britain's government.
