Liberal Leader Mark Carney has announced his gun control initiatives and said his government will tighten bail laws.
“You can’t be serious about being tough on crime if you’re not willing to be tough on guns,” Carney said on April 10.
The Liberal leader said that his government will continue the gun buyback program that was started under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In 2021, Trudeau introduced Bill C-21, which mandated stricter gun control and a buyback program for the more than 1,500 gun models that have been banned in Canada. The program was announced after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 that left 22 people dead. The bill passed in 2023, and the ban list has expanded since then.
“We will quickly, and I mean quickly, reinvigorate the buyback of assault-style firearms and leave the classification of new firearm models to the RCMP, to the experts, not to the gun industry,” Carney said during a news conference in Brampton, Ont.
The gun buyback program has already started for businesses, such as firearms retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Before the election, the Liberal government said the program would expand to include individual gun owners this spring.
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The program is expected to cost the government about $2 billion.
Carney also said he will boost law enforcement capability to find weapons used to commit crimes.
“We will invest in the RCMP’s national forensic laboratories in Ottawa and Surrey and the Saskatchewan ballistics lab to increase our capacity to track down guns used in crimes,” Carney said.
As part of the Liberals’ plan to fight crime and provide public safety, Carney also announced a range of bail and crime reforms, including a change to the burden of proof for accused to be granted bail.
Under Carney’s plan, those accused of violent car theft, car theft for a criminal organization, home invasion, and human trafficking and smuggling offences will be required to show they are not a risk to public safety before they can be released.
Carney also said he would hire a thousand more RCMP officers, boost pay for cadets, and train more border agents to crack down on guns at the U.S. border.
In announcing the plan, the Liberals also included some items that are already law, such as revoking gun licences for those convicted of violent crime, including intimate partner violence.
During the news conference, Carney also said his government will introduce legislation to protect public spaces.
“We will make it a criminal offence to intentionally and willfully obstruct access to any place of worship, to any school, any community centre.”
His plan will also make it a crime to intentionally and willfully intimidate or threaten those attending religious ceremonies or services at worship centres, schools, and community centres.
In addition, Carney has promised tougher penalties for those who target children, including legislation directed at online exploitation and child luring. The Liberals said they will also fund activities for children and youth to steer them away from criminal involvement through the Building Safer Communities Fund.
Conservatives Promise Tougher Sentences
The Conservatives have made improving public safety a key campaign issue.
Among the promises made on this file by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is a commitment to prevent anyone convicted of three serious crimes from getting out on bail, probation, parole, or house arrest.
The Conservatives call it the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law.
“We will lock up the worst violent offenders longer and make sure they are not released as long as they pose a danger to our society,” Poilievre said.
Those convicted will need to have “spotless behaviour” and “clean drug tests” before they are released, the Conservatives said.
Poilievre has also announced his government will introduce legislation creating a criminal offence of “assault of an intimate partner.”
The Conservatives said they will enforce the “strictest bail conditions for anyone accused of intimate partner violence,” which would include GPS ankle bracelet monitoring. A breach of conditions would result in “immediate imprisonment.”
For those accused of killing a spouse or partner, a child, or the child of a partner, the crime will be treated as first-degree murder, Conservatives said.
Poilievre has also said that life sentences will be automatic for those convicted of five or more counts of human trafficking, importing or exporting 10 or more illegal firearms, or trafficking fentanyl.
Matthew Horwood and Noé Chartier contributed to this article.
