Saskatchewan sees low participation rates in federal gun buyback program

Saskatchewan has the lowest per capita participation in Ottawa’s Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program. Some experts predict that it will be even lower.

The most recent data from the government of Canada shows 793 guns declared in Saskatchewan as of March 19 — the fewest per capita in Canada.

“It’ll be interesting to see how many people withdraw their applications in the next day or so because we’re starting to see that across the country already, ” new firearms commissioner Blaine Beaven says.

The provincial government has also pushed back on the program by amending legislation to allow for exemptions for gun owners in Saskatchewan.

Beaven says the alternative compensation program from the province is only part of the reason gun owners are withdrawing applications.

“Anyone else who has applied, who’s not a province with an agreement or where a police agency lives with an agreement, as far as I can tell from the terms from the federal program, is not going to be compensated,” Beaven says.

Quebec is currently the only province to sign on to the program.

The Saskatchewan government is also pushing back on the federal government’s plan to use local law enforcement to remove the now-banned firearms in the coming months.

“There’s no interest on the part of municipal police forces to engage in this type of work. They’re focused on actual crime fighting, actual work that will enhance public safety, not this type of work,” Beaven says.

Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation recreational firearm community chairperson Gilbert White feels the program is broken beyond repair after spending days trying to help a friend apply.

“This gentleman, who wanted to turn in a JR-15, has no idea if he’s registered for a compensation program or not, because you’re just not responding to him at all,” White says.

Of the 136,000 assault-style firearms the federal government expected, 47,000 have been declared across Canada.

Ahead of the program opening, federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree was caught on an audio recording casting doubt on the program, suggesting it could gain Liberal votes in Quebec.

“I guess we’re an easy target, if you want to put it that way. And the government is willing to, you know, do that for political gain,” White says.

Some national firearms advocates agree with White.

“The government never actually had the intention of collecting firearms from people. The bans were largely political, and the minister admitted as much,” Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) spokesperson Tracey Wilson says.

The CCFR says it will be moving forward with a Supreme Court of Canada appeal challenging the federal government’s use of an order-in-council to prohibit the more than 2,500 recently banned firearms.

“I think a lot of people, myself included, would like to see the program scrapped,” Saskatoon gun owner Kendrick Walker says.

Walker, like many gun owners, is frustrated with what he says is a lack of information from different levels of government throughout the program’s launch.

“There is a little bit of a grey area there. We’re still waiting to see precisely what that means in terms of compensation. The federal government is saying one thing, the province is saying another,” Walker says.

Global News reached out to the Ministry of Public Safety for comment on the program closing but did not hear back in time for publication.

In a press conference, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree addressed the pushback from provinces.

“Those who are eligible and those enrolled in the program, will be able to seek compensation for their prohibited firearms that they will be willing to turn over to police. Having said that, it’s regrettable that both the government of Saskatchewan (and) Alberta have chosen this path,” said Anandasangaree.

In a separate press conference, Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the gap in the federal government’s expectations and declared firearms.

“We’ll evaluate the full program and next steps. There’s time between now and when the law fully takes effect later in the fall,” says Carney.

There is still a grace period for gun owners to surrender their guns. The fallout for those who don’t comply after the Oct. 31 deadline remains to be seen on a province-to-province basis.