Government Motion (28 November 2022)

From Hansard (28 November 2022)

Federal Firearms Legislation

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by the Honourable Christine Tell, Minister of Corrections, Policing & Public Safety:

"That this House condemns and denounces the most recent attack on lawful firearms owners by the Liberal-NDP coalition federal government through amendments to Bill C-21, which the Chief Firearms Officer of Saskatchewan estimates will instantly criminalize approximately 75,000 Saskatchewan residents; and further,  

This House calls on the Government of Saskatchewan to explore all options to protect the rights of law-abiding firearms owners. "

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Mr. Jenson: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And for the member from Cumberland across the way, if he has so much to say, maybe he should get to his feet.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, we live in a wonderful province. We live in a wonderful province with wonderful people from border to border to border. Now I’m like the member from Moose Jaw North. I haven’t hunted since I was a teenager — that’s full disclosure — but I do take umbrage with Bill C-21 and the amendments that go with it.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, when I was 11 years old I took my hunter safety program in Saskatoon, and I still remember it pretty clearly, and out at the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation. And I did do some hunting with my father after that for a few years. And one of the things that we learned in that hunter safety course, and one of the things that my dad passed down to me, was having respect for the people, the persons, the property, and the wildlife itself.

Now this legislation that’s being proposed and the amendments that go along with it affect tens of thousands of others in the province — pretty much everybody in our province — and many more around the country. This legislation that’s being proposed by the federal government is completely out of focus, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and does not address the problem of illegal guns entering our country, the gang violence that we see in our urban streets, or the use of firearms in the commission of a crime. Our Chief Firearms Officer estimates over 75,000 residents of our province will become criminals overnight if these amendments are adopted.

So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, who will be confiscating these firearms? Will it be the RCMP? Will it be municipal police forces? Mr. Deputy Speaker, I have had some experience working with the RCMP as an auxiliary constable for about a period of four years, five years. One of the detachments I served in was the Battlefords detachment, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And I’m sure that the member from The Battlefords is well aware of how busy that detachment is. They don’t have time to be running around enforcing confiscation rules on firearms. They have many, many other things to do.

I have lots of friends and family, Mr. Deputy Speaker, who will be in this classification. They’re going to unwillingly fall into the classification of being a criminal just for the simple fact that they own firearms. And it’s very disturbing that law-abiding gun owners across our province and across our country are being targeted in this legislation. Some of these friends and families are hunters and sport shooters. Some are farmers or a combination of both.

I have a good friend that I grew up with. His name is Kirk Reynolds. Kirk was an Olympic athlete from Outlook. And Kirk joined Rod Boll, the pride of Midale, Saskatchewan . . .

An Hon. Member: — Fillmore.

Mr. Jenson: — Fillmore. Close enough. In Atlanta in 1996 for the Olympic Games. And Kirk and Rod competed together in men’s double trap shooting. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Atlanta to watch them compete. If we have a law like this in place, Mr. Deputy Speaker, gentlemen like Kirk and Rod would not have that opportunity, and others like me would not have the opportunity to watch them compete.

Taking away lawfully owned and lawfully used firearms, Mr. Deputy Speaker, will be making life on farms much more dangerous. I’m not a farmer, never professed to be — I can barely grow potatoes — but most of my in-laws are farmers, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My brother-in-law, couple of months back, had an incident on his farm, and it was extremely disturbing. It was a little scary. They had some trespassers in his yard attempting to steal fuel, and they were armed. And those firearms, Mr. Deputy Speaker, were not legally owned, and they certainly were used in the commission of a crime.

So I think it was the member from Melville-Saltcoats that spoke about how this law and the amendments that go with it will affect livestock producers and food security. If there are no firearms in the province, how do farmers protect their herds? How do they protect the animals on the farms? And how do they protect themselves from the criminal element as well?

Predators such as bears, coyotes, cougars, they can all be stopped in their tracks with a firearm, Mr. Deputy Speaker. They won’t be, however, stopped from attacking livestock, or people, with platitudes and the emotional advocacy like our Prime Minister is so fond of, or the ineffective legislation and amendments that are being proposed in Bill C-21.

I remember as a kid going hunting with my dad — prairie chickens in the shelterbelts down around the Outlook area, ducks, geese, mule deer south of The Battlefords in the Baljennie area.

I remember as a kid growing up . . . And I think the member from Rosemont has probably been to the Ford Beavis Breakfast. I’m not sure if he has or not. But the Ford Beavis Breakfast is one of the biggest hunters’ breakfasts in Saskatchewan, and it’s held every October. And for the people that attend that breakfast — and I believe it’s been going now for more than 60 years — the people that attend that breakfast are good, upstanding people. This law and these amendments will criminalize each and every one of them, and that is an absolute shame.

My dad was also not only, you know, in business all of his life, but our family also owned a hunting and fishing outfitting operation in northern Saskatchewan, a fly-in operation. This law and these amendments, Mr. Deputy Speaker, will eliminate that entire outfitting industry in our province and all the jobs that go with it. It will eliminate them.

So even though, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I’m no longer a hunter, I . . . and I do have some regrets because, you know, I would like to be able to make some memories with my son and teach him. But as he grows older, he may pick up on firearm safety, hunting, maybe sport shooting. But if this legislation passes with the amendments, Mr. Deputy Speaker, he’s not going to have that opportunity, and neither will thousands of other young people that may develop into that sport.

So I know there’s others that want to get in on this debate, so I’m going to leave it at that. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will be supporting the motion moved by the Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety. Thank you.

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