Juno News - Liberal minister ＂confident＂ Canadians will surrender guns

00:00:00.000 The Liberal Public Safety Minister is once again backpedaling on the Feds' gun confiscation program,

00:00:10.060 contradicting a leaked recording the minister had with one of his rental tenants,

00:00:14.480 released to True North just a day before.

00:00:17.020 A taxpayer-funded, Antifa-linked activist group is hiring an investigative journalist

00:00:21.280 to report full-time on what the organization deems to be far-right.

00:00:25.420 B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad won a leadership review with over 70% support from party members on Monday evening.

00:00:33.180 Hello Canada, it's Wednesday, September 24th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:37.620 I'm Isaac Lamoureux.

00:00:38.860 And I'm Al Sultan.

00:00:40.360 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:42.900 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:51.540 Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangri said he has, quote,

00:00:55.120 quote, absolute confidence that law-abiding Canadians will hand over their firearms

00:00:59.360 to comply with the Liberal government's gun confiscation program.

00:01:03.420 On Tuesday, Anandasangri officially announced the launch of the gun grab program at a press conference

00:01:08.760 where he spent much of the time contradicting comments he made privately

00:01:13.080 to one of his rental unit tenants in a leaked audio recording just the day before.

00:01:18.280 Anandasangri insisted in his opening remarks that, quote,

00:01:21.220 the program is voluntary.

00:01:23.180 Nobody is having their weapon confiscated.

00:01:25.920 He said that nobody is being forced to participate in the buyback program.

00:01:29.900 However, he clarified that when the amnesty period concludes,

00:01:34.040 anybody who does not comply will be considered a criminal for violating federal law.

00:01:39.140 He later added that he had, quote,

00:01:41.140 every confidence in Canadians to voluntarily comply with the confiscation program.

00:01:45.220 I have every confidence that law-abiding citizens, first of all,

00:01:50.840 will ensure compliance with the law.

00:01:53.500 Secondly, I also have every confidence that law enforcement will be able to do their job

00:01:57.760 and to ensure the implementation of the criminal code.

00:02:00.640 Canada is a rule of law country, so if it is in the criminal code,

00:02:03.640 it is imperative that police or jurisdiction are able to implement that law.

00:02:09.880 Liberal MP Natalie Provost, who was alongside Anandasangri at the announcement,

00:02:14.000 maintained that while the program was voluntary,

00:02:17.360 the decision to not comply would constitute, quote,

00:02:20.120 committing a crime.

00:02:21.820 In French, she said, quote,

00:02:24.340 Yes, it's possible that after the program,

00:02:26.260 there will be people who choose to keep prohibited weapons in their homes,

00:02:29.500 but those people are committing a crime.

00:02:32.200 When fielding questions from the media,

00:02:33.920 Anandasangri was grilled over remarks he made in a leaked audio,

00:02:37.040 which seemed to contradict much of what he was claiming to support only a day later.

00:02:42.120 So, Alex, how did Anandasangri's comments on Tuesday

00:02:45.180 contradict the audio recording he was speaking about the day prior?

00:02:49.520 In leaked audio provided to True North,

00:02:51.960 Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangri

00:02:54.320 dismissed concerns from licensed gun owners

00:02:56.740 who worried about being arrested

00:02:58.260 if they refused to surrender firearms banned

00:03:00.780 under the Liberal government's gun confiscation program.

00:03:03.500 Now, Isaac, as you may recall,

00:03:05.320 this quote-unquote gun buyback program,

00:03:07.560 which has transformed over time into a gun confiscation program,

00:03:12.120 but now seems to have transformed,

00:03:14.000 according to the Public Safety Minister,

00:03:16.000 into a voluntary program.

00:03:18.120 It goes all the way back to 2020.

00:03:19.940 That's over three public safety ministers ago.

00:03:22.660 The audio, which was provided to True North

00:03:24.240 by the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights,

00:03:26.320 was recorded by a tenant of one of Anandasangri's rental properties.

00:03:30.400 The minister actually initiated the conversation

00:03:33.320 on the gun confiscation program,

00:03:34.920 which he suggested will be launched as of yesterday.

00:03:37.900 Anandasangri told the tenant that he had three options.

00:03:40.840 He could either deactivate the firearms,

00:03:42.940 turn them in for compensation, or do neither.

00:03:45.660 The tenant asked the minister

00:03:46.760 whether he would become a criminal if he refused to comply,

00:03:49.400 and Anandasangri expressed doubt and added,

00:03:52.000 I just don't think municipal police services

00:03:54.260 have the resources to do this.

00:03:56.400 I would tend to agree with the Public Safety Minister.

00:03:59.460 Again, this program goes back the better part of the last decade,

00:04:03.160 more than three public safety ministers ago,

00:04:05.960 has cost the Canadian taxpayer millions of dollars,

00:04:09.100 and has resulted in paltry, if any, gun confiscations.

00:04:13.320 So I would say that Anandasangri had a rare moment

00:04:17.280 of clarity of thought when he said

00:04:19.380 that police resources would be stretched thin

00:04:21.280 if police services were to try to enforce the buyback program.

00:04:25.500 He even said to the tenant,

00:04:26.640 I will come and bail you out if that happens.

00:04:29.740 You call me.

00:04:33.900 An activist group that claims to be, quote,

00:04:36.200 independent, despite being subsidized by taxpayers,

00:04:39.540 is hiring an investigative journalist to monitor and report

00:04:42.240 on what it deems to be, quote, far-right.

00:04:44.900 The Canadian Anti-Hate Network posted a full-time remote position

00:04:48.120 paying $60,000 a year on LinkedIn last week.

00:04:51.020 The job posting has over 100 applicants

00:04:52.920 at this article's time of publication.

00:04:54.600 The first responsibility listed for the job

00:04:56.860 is monitoring far-right spaces.

00:04:59.160 The organization's definition of far-right

00:05:01.200 was derived from work by Dr. Barbara Perry

00:05:03.920 and Dr. Cass Munnell.

00:05:06.020 Perry was recently defended by the CBC

00:05:08.320 for falsely claiming Charlie Kirk

00:05:10.020 called for queer people to be executed 1.00

00:05:11.980 during a live broadcast.

00:05:14.260 There's also the hypocrisy there, I think,

00:05:16.040 that feeds into the rhetoric, right,

00:05:19.220 where he's talking about the polarizing rhetoric

00:05:21.600 and the vilification, which is very much laid at his feet

00:05:27.340 in terms of exactly the language that we're seeing there.

00:05:31.700 The language even that Charlie Kirk uses,

00:05:35.620 vilifying particular groups,

00:05:37.700 talking about the Democrats, for example,

00:05:40.800 as, and I quote,

00:05:42.540 standing for everything that God hates,

00:05:46.480 claiming that, you know,

00:05:48.640 queer people are defective and dangerous 1.00

00:05:51.680 and should be executed. 0.51

00:05:54.420 I mean, that's sort of polarizing language

00:05:56.400 that contributes to this environment,

00:05:58.840 this loss of civility,

00:06:00.600 and encourages violence directed towards the enemy,

00:06:04.180 whatever the stripe,

00:06:05.120 and we are seeing this from both sides.

00:06:07.720 The job posting lists several

00:06:09.180 of the organization's priority areas.

00:06:11.480 They include Christian nationalism,

00:06:13.520 anti-2SLGBTQIA+, movements,

00:06:16.960 anti-gender movements,

00:06:18.480 and male supremacist movements.

00:06:20.860 Between 2020 and 2026,

00:06:22.960 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network

00:06:24.280 received three federal grants

00:06:25.940 totaling almost a million dollars.

00:06:28.600 These include $268,400

00:06:31.340 under the Anti-Racism Action Program

00:06:33.540 for, quote,

00:06:34.600 containing and countering Canadian hate groups.

00:06:37.920 Another $440,000

00:06:39.560 under the Community Support Multiculturalism

00:06:42.060 and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program

00:06:44.040 for, quote,

00:06:45.220 encouraging anti-hate activities in Canada.

00:06:48.360 And then another $200,000

00:06:50.140 from Public Safety Canada's

00:06:51.900 Community Resilience Fund

00:06:53.520 to develop a, quote,

00:06:55.160 ethical framework for research

00:06:57.000 on far-right organizing in Canada.

00:06:59.920 So, Isaac,

00:07:00.460 what do we know

00:07:01.480 about this so-called

00:07:02.640 Canadian Anti-Hate Network?

00:07:05.520 Yeah, Alex,

00:07:06.000 you covered a lot of what we know,

00:07:07.880 but of course,

00:07:08.720 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network

00:07:10.000 is a Toronto-based non-profit

00:07:12.240 that has built its reputation

00:07:14.160 by positioning itself

00:07:15.400 as Canada's primary

00:07:16.680 and even, according to them,

00:07:18.180 the only watchdog

00:07:19.220 against what it labels

00:07:20.260 as far-right movements.

00:07:22.060 But while it presents itself

00:07:23.340 as independent

00:07:24.440 and non-partisan,

00:07:26.240 the group has relied heavily

00:07:27.340 on taxpayer dollars

00:07:28.340 to fund its operations.

00:07:29.560 As you mentioned,

00:07:30.180 since 2020,

00:07:31.180 it has secured

00:07:31.700 more than $900,000

00:07:33.260 in federal grants

00:07:34.540 from programs run

00:07:35.700 through Canadian Heritage

00:07:36.580 and Public Safety Canada

00:07:37.760 with subsidies earmarked

00:07:39.060 for countering hate groups,

00:07:40.900 promoting anti-hate activities,

00:07:42.140 and even building

00:07:42.920 an ethical framework

00:07:43.920 for research

00:07:45.080 into so-called

00:07:45.920 far-right organizing.

00:07:47.780 And the group's definition

00:07:48.760 of far-right activity

00:07:50.900 is broad.

00:07:51.880 According to its own website,

00:07:53.520 priority areas include

00:07:54.640 neo-Nazism, 0.54

00:07:56.000 white nationalism,

00:07:57.360 Christian nationalism,

00:07:58.440 male supremacist movements,

00:07:59.660 and opposition

00:08:00.240 to gender ideology.

00:08:02.180 In fact,

00:08:03.600 the definition

00:08:05.720 on their website

00:08:07.200 for what far-right is,

00:08:08.660 which was also

00:08:09.100 on the job posting,

00:08:09.900 by the way,

00:08:10.300 is a bit convoluted.

00:08:11.960 It reads,

00:08:12.420 quote,

00:08:13.280 Domestic extremism

00:08:14.320 is a belief system

00:08:15.180 that is characterized

00:08:15.880 by its reference

00:08:17.040 to racial,

00:08:17.880 ethnic,

00:08:18.080 and cultural supremacy

00:08:19.220 which advocates

00:08:20.040 a system of belief

00:08:21.040 in inequality

00:08:21.740 based on an alleged difference

00:08:23.200 and the perceived threat

00:08:24.260 posed by out-groups.

00:08:26.040 This extremism

00:08:26.920 is often framed

00:08:27.860 in terms of white power

00:08:29.140 and commonly exhibits

00:08:30.220 nationalism, racism,

00:08:31.640 xenophobia,

00:08:32.400 anti-democracy,

00:08:33.280 misogyny,

00:08:34.260 hate against minority communities,

00:08:35.880 and strong state advocacy.

00:08:37.680 So while in my opinion

00:08:38.520 that definition

00:08:39.120 didn't really necessarily define

00:08:41.300 what far-right even is,

00:08:42.720 it definitely tried to jam

00:08:44.580 as many buzzwords in there

00:08:46.140 as it possibly could.

00:08:47.100 But as for the network,

00:08:49.060 in the past,

00:08:49.580 it has singled out

00:08:50.480 political figures

00:08:51.500 under the guise

00:08:52.280 of tracking extremism.

00:08:53.600 For example,

00:08:54.040 in 2021,

00:08:55.540 the group accused

00:08:56.380 former Newfoundland

00:08:57.340 Premier Brian Peckford

00:08:58.440 and former BC Premier

00:09:00.180 William Zander Zalm

00:09:01.520 of legitimizing

00:09:02.700 conspiracy theories

00:09:03.640 after they criticized

00:09:04.740 pandemic restrictions.

00:09:06.420 And it also publicly

00:09:07.380 pressured managers

00:09:08.240 of an Ottawa convention center

00:09:09.900 for renting space

00:09:10.800 to Catholic organizations

00:09:12.020 attending a pro-life march.

00:09:13.700 The president

00:09:14.560 of the Aristotle Foundation

00:09:15.920 for Public Policy,

00:09:16.900 Mark Mielke,

00:09:17.740 said the public square

00:09:18.680 needs robust debate

00:09:19.840 but, quote,

00:09:20.660 what it doesn't need

00:09:21.620 is the 800-pound gorilla

00:09:22.960 of government-funding

00:09:24.080 advocacy groups

00:09:25.040 that plant fake news.

00:09:26.940 So the network

00:09:27.620 was also co-founded

00:09:28.740 by Amira El-Gwabi,

00:09:30.500 who now serves

00:09:31.460 in Prime Minister

00:09:32.080 Mark Carney's cabinet

00:09:33.280 as the special representative

00:09:34.680 on combating Islamophobia,

00:09:36.360 which, of course,

00:09:36.900 is a role

00:09:37.320 with a $191,000 salary.

00:09:39.740 But according

00:09:40.720 to its mission statements,

00:09:41.960 the organization

00:09:42.800 produces news articles,

00:09:44.360 investigations,

00:09:45.320 toolkits,

00:09:46.000 and training materials

00:09:47.040 designed to disrupt

00:09:48.140 and compete

00:09:49.260 with far-right movements.

00:09:50.740 It also emphasizes

00:09:51.900 collaboration

00:09:52.380 with policy makers

00:09:53.520 and legacy media outlets

00:09:54.940 to amplify its work.

00:09:56.640 So in short,

00:09:57.440 the Canadian Anti-Hate Network

00:09:58.720 isn't just an advocacy group,

00:10:00.860 it's one that has positioned itself

00:10:02.500 as both activist

00:10:03.520 and media producer,

00:10:05.420 while, of course,

00:10:06.180 being heavily subsidized

00:10:07.900 by Ottawa.

00:10:09.740 B.C. Conservative leader

00:10:13.700 John Rustad

00:10:14.420 has won a leadership review

00:10:15.680 with nearly 71%

00:10:17.140 of party members

00:10:18.060 backing him.

00:10:19.500 Of 1,268 eligible members,

00:10:22.460 70.66% voted yes

00:10:24.940 for Rustad

00:10:25.740 to continue as leader,

00:10:27.100 while 29.34%

00:10:28.800 voted against him.

00:10:30.640 Rustad won in 78

00:10:31.800 of 93 ridings

00:10:32.900 where votes were held.

00:10:33.860 He lost in 10 ridings,

00:10:35.520 tied in three,

00:10:36.360 and two ridings

00:10:37.140 recorded no votes.

00:10:38.520 Rustad said in a statement,

00:10:40.400 quote,

00:10:41.200 I would like to thank

00:10:42.100 our members

00:10:42.500 for coming out

00:10:43.300 to use their democratic right

00:10:44.720 and voicing their opinion

00:10:45.840 on the direction

00:10:46.520 of our party and movement.

00:10:48.120 This process

00:10:48.920 has localized democracy

00:10:50.280 and allowed all members

00:10:51.380 to not only vote

00:10:52.360 in this crucial review,

00:10:53.420 but share their concerns

00:10:54.460 with me directly.

00:10:56.000 He added,

00:10:56.720 quote,

00:10:56.960 Mark Robertson,

00:11:10.880 the party's returning officer,

00:11:12.520 administered the leadership

00:11:13.520 review process

00:11:14.280 and an impartial third party

00:11:15.780 conducted the vote count.

00:11:17.660 According to the party,

00:11:18.840 Robertson traveled

00:11:19.700 across the province

00:11:20.620 during the summer

00:11:21.420 overseeing voting logistics.

00:11:24.040 So, Alex,

00:11:24.540 obviously we've written

00:11:25.700 a lot about Rustad

00:11:26.760 at True North

00:11:27.340 and he's controversial

00:11:28.660 even within

00:11:29.560 the conservative movement

00:11:30.460 in B.C.

00:11:31.120 But what is Rustad

00:11:32.480 taking out

00:11:33.020 of this leadership review?

00:11:34.540 What does he view

00:11:35.220 as his mandate

00:11:35.800 from supporters

00:11:36.460 of his party in B.C.?

00:11:38.280 So, Isaac,

00:11:38.980 as we had written about

00:11:39.840 previously at True North,

00:11:41.240 he introduced something

00:11:42.240 called the 11-point pledge

00:11:44.020 and amongst that

00:11:44.780 11-point pledge

00:11:45.720 were some promises

00:11:47.020 to not only his constituents

00:11:48.800 but obviously potential voters

00:11:50.240 in a future election.

00:11:51.540 Those included

00:11:52.220 law and order,

00:11:53.480 cracking down

00:11:53.960 on violent crime,

00:11:55.040 fast-tracking prosecutions

00:11:56.440 and specifically targeting

00:11:58.000 random stranger attacks.

00:11:59.460 Also, he wanted to ban

00:12:01.200 age-inappropriate content

00:12:02.480 in schools,

00:12:03.260 somewhat similar

00:12:03.800 to the policies

00:12:04.560 being supported

00:12:05.640 in Alberta

00:12:06.380 by Premier Daniel Smith,

00:12:07.960 something that you

00:12:08.620 are familiar with yourself.

00:12:10.260 Also pushing for

00:12:11.340 stronger election

00:12:12.480 voter ID rules,

00:12:13.820 there were a lot

00:12:14.860 of concerns

00:12:16.260 about the fairness

00:12:17.580 of the last

00:12:18.260 provincial election

00:12:19.280 and so I imagine

00:12:21.260 that that appealed

00:12:22.420 to a lot of

00:12:23.680 conservatives specifically.

00:12:24.840 He also promised

00:12:26.480 to offer an end

00:12:27.660 to mass immigration policies

00:12:29.180 that one I think

00:12:30.120 would be a bit

00:12:30.580 more challenging

00:12:31.160 given that the

00:12:32.060 provincial government

00:12:32.660 has limited carriage

00:12:33.760 over immigration 0.78

00:12:34.720 but still something

00:12:35.520 that I think

00:12:36.000 would largely

00:12:37.000 appeal to his base.

00:12:38.640 In terms of

00:12:39.500 what this win means,

00:12:41.040 I think that it's

00:12:41.780 premature

00:12:42.220 to say that it's

00:12:44.280 either overwhelmingly

00:12:45.300 positive

00:12:45.840 or overwhelmingly negative.

00:12:47.940 However,

00:12:48.380 on the positive side

00:12:49.220 what we can say

00:12:49.920 is that he is still

00:12:51.440 the leader of the

00:12:51.980 Conservative Party.

00:12:52.780 On the negative side

00:12:53.560 he nearly lost

00:12:55.100 a third of the votes.

00:12:56.440 On the whole,

00:12:56.980 I would say this is

00:12:57.540 clearly a win for Rustad

00:12:58.720 as he received

00:12:59.360 nearly two-thirds

00:13:00.560 of the party membership

00:13:01.600 in the latest

00:13:03.140 Conservative leadership race.

00:13:05.160 It will be interesting

00:13:05.760 to see how he balances

00:13:06.940 this mandate

00:13:07.600 with the realities

00:13:08.440 of governing

00:13:08.960 and appealing

00:13:09.440 to a BC broader electorate.

00:13:11.500 As people are well aware,

00:13:13.900 BC,

00:13:14.860 for better or worse,

00:13:15.760 I would say probably worse,

00:13:16.940 is incredibly left coast.

00:13:19.060 And so Rustad

00:13:20.260 has a considerable challenge

00:13:21.780 on his hands.

00:13:22.460 He has to appeal

00:13:23.140 to the more conservative

00:13:24.060 voices within his own party

00:13:25.660 but he also has to

00:13:26.920 appeal to

00:13:28.140 the broader population

00:13:29.580 of BC,

00:13:30.240 many of which

00:13:30.700 do not identify

00:13:31.600 as corely conservative.

00:13:33.480 From the party's perspective,

00:13:34.500 however,

00:13:34.860 this vote is being framed

00:13:35.860 as grassroots exercise

00:13:37.020 in democracy

00:13:37.660 and Rustad is using it

00:13:38.880 to position himself

00:13:39.820 as the leading voice

00:13:40.640 for the conservatives

00:13:41.300 in the province

00:13:42.080 heading into the next election,

00:13:43.920 whatever that happens to be.

00:13:44.980 That's it for today, folks.

00:13:48.740 Thanks for tuning in.

00:13:49.760 You can stay on top

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00:13:55.360 Also, while you're at it,

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Juno News - September 24, 2025

Liberal minister ＂confident＂ Canadians will surrender guns

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