Alberta Crown prosecutors will determine whether or not to lay charges under the federal Firearms Act starting January 1, 2023.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro announced the changes during a news conference Thursday morning, saying the province has the constitutional authority to handle federal criminal law charges.
Anyone who obtained their firearm before May 2020 will not be prosecuted in Alberta, Shandro said. Anyone who had their firearm reclassified as prohibited on May 1, 2020 will also not be prosecuted, according to a press release Thursday.
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This does not apply to anyone who has been charged with other crimes related to the possession or use of this firearm.
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He also sent a letter to federal Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti, stating that the province will handle the charges under the federal Firearms Act.
This comes after the federal government introduced the controversial Bill C-21 on May 30, which seeks to enshrine a legal definition of “assault-style” weapons.
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The bill has been criticized by hunters and Assembly of First Nations chiefs, who say the proposed gun control legislation will affect treaty rights and harm law-abiding citizens.
“His actions are aimed at Western Canadians for a reason. It’s to bolster his own political support,” Shandro told reporters.
“To do that, they seek to divide us western Canadians and eastern Canadians, rural Canadians and urban Canadians…Albertans have had enough.
“This is very political. This is not about targeting and reducing gun crime. They are not doing anything about the illegal trafficking of firearms across the border.”
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Ottawa has banned the use or sale of more than 1,500 different models of assault-style firearms in Canada since May 2020. There is a grace period until October next year , and Albertans still in possession of these prohibited firearms could face criminal charges for owning them. guns they bought legally at the time.
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The federal government has pledged to establish a buyback program to remove these firearms from communities.
The Alberta government has resisted banning firearms ever since, accusing the federal government of “fear mongering” by labeling the guns “assault-style.” Shandro previously said the move was made to scare Canadians unfamiliar with firearms.
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Shandro also said the province will oppose any efforts by RCMP officers to confiscate firearms by invoking Article 23 of the provincial-federal agreement governing policing. He said the proposed legislation will “pit” Canadians against each other.
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The justice minister said the government has a good relationship with its Crown prosecutors, but did not say whether prosecutors would be resourced to handle the extra workload.
“This is our constitutional jurisdiction. This is not a negotiation with the federal government,” Shandro said.
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“There is a need for us to take over that jurisdiction, so that we can issue the protocols that can provide guidance on when it will and when it will not be in the public interest.”
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Alberta also plans to seek intervener status in six ongoing judicial review applications challenging the constitutionality of the legislation.
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino refuted Shandro’s statement, saying Bill C-21 aims to reduce gun violence with “common sense” policies like a national gun freeze.
Additional laws will be passed to go after arms dealers, he said.
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“There is a wealth of good policy that has been informed by the advice and consultation we’ve had from law enforcement, industry leaders and leaders across the spectrum,” the federal minister said.
“It has been a settled matter of Supreme Court jurisprudence that when it comes to the regulation of firearms it is within the purview of the federal government.”
Lametti said he is trying to make sense of Shandro’s announcement because the firearms charges are already being prosecuted by provincial prosecutors.
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The Firearms Act, however, is a federal jurisdiction and Ottawa has already delegated that responsibility to federal prosecutors.
“It would be extraordinary if they made a unilateral decision not to enforce the law. This would not only offend the constitution, but also offend the rule of law,” Lametti told reporters on Thursday.
Dwight Newman, a constitutional law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said firearms charges used to be under provincial jurisdiction in previous iterations of the Firearms Act, but many provinces no longer wanted to prosecute firearms offences. firearms
“There’s nothing stopping them from saying they’re going to do a lot of prosecutions in that area. That’s actually what provinces do,” he told Ted Henley on 770 CHQR Thursday.
“But the questions will be whether they can do it in this creative way that also says they’re not going to be prosecuted in certain situations and whether that’s going to stick or whether the federal government is going to try to get involved.
Newman also said the federal government will likely challenge Alberta’s policy, but it’s a complicated process.
“If they were found to interfere in some way with the core of federal law in enunciating this policy, there could be ways that the federal government could try to challenge that,” the law professor said.
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“There are a few different ways that things could play out if the federal government tries to challenge that … It remains to be seen what that system is within the province.”
Alberta justice critic Irfan Sabir slammed Shandro’s announcement, saying the united Conservative government should not politicize the federal Firearms Act. He also said that Shandro should not interfere in the administration of justice.
However, Sabir said there should be a balance between law-abiding gun owners and Bill C-21.
“The federal government is banning assault weapons, which must be taken off the streets. At the same time, the government should consult with Albertans and Indigenous communities who use these assault weapons for hunting purposes,” he said Report to reporters on Thursday.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation applauded Shandro’s announcement, saying the government made the “right move” and calling the federal firearms ban a “wasted gun grab.”
“Police say mass confiscation of rifles and shotguns from hunters and ranchers will not make Canadians safer, and history shows us that this gun seizure will also be a huge waste of taxpayer money,” said Kris Sims , Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“Canada is over $1 trillion in debt and the Trudeau government has a serious spending problem. The last thing we need is another seizure of people’s assets that turns into an expensive boondoggle.”
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Rod Giltaca, executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, said the group is pleased to see the Alberta government standing up to the federal government.
“We are very pleased that the Alberta government continues to respond to the repeated excesses of the Liberals,” Giltaca said in a statement emailed to Global News. “More and more Canadians are rejecting the bad behavior of the federal Liberals and their supporters, the NDP and the Bloc.”
770 CHQR has contacted the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Association with a request for comment. This story will be updated if one is received.
–With files from Dean Bennett of The Canadian Press and Adam Toy of Global News.