PJ The Belt - April 21, 2026


Alberta & Saskatchewan DEFIANT Against The Gun Grab


Episode Stats


Length

8 minutes

Words per minute

166.38881

Word count

1,364

Sentence count

73


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The federal government is trying to collect guns from Canadian gun owners who refuse to hand them over, and it's turning into a real problem for law enforcement agencies across the country. This is the first part of a two-part series on the federal government's controversial gun buyback program.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Alberta just blocked it straight up. Ottawa pushed another gun grab and Alberta and Saskatchewan, they're not playing along.
00:00:08.860 We've been absolutely and unequivocally clear. We will oppose any policy that undermines law abiding firearms owners, including ineffective and extremely expensive buyback programs that don't actually speak to the root cause of the problem.
00:00:24.360 And here's the part the federal government didn't see coming. This isn't just political pushback. This is turning into a real enforcement problem for them.
00:00:33.860 I spoke to a very senior long-serving RCMP officer yesterday morning. And I said, you know, like, look, Gary's saying that without the buy-in from municipal law enforcement, he's going to force the RCMP to do this. And he said, we're not. We're not.
00:00:49.320 Because the Liberals keep saying, well, we have the RCMP, and technically they do.
00:00:54.800 But that's where things get interesting.
00:00:56.780 Because what's being said and what's actually happening underground are two completely different things.
00:01:04.120 Limited buy-in for the federal gun buy-back program.
00:01:08.360 A shortfall, Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledges.
00:01:11.900 It's not as high as the estimates. There's obviously a gap there.
00:01:15.540 Canadian gun owners had until March 31st to get cash
00:01:19.840 for turning in their recently banned assault-style firearms.
00:01:24.000 Some 50,000 have been declared so far.
00:01:27.200 Ottawa expected 136,000.
00:01:30.180 On paper, Ottawa can write whatever law they want.
00:01:34.120 They can announce plans, they can roll out lists,
00:01:37.000 they can talk about buybacks, but none of that means anything
00:01:40.260 if the people who are supposed to enforce it refuse to do it.
00:01:44.280 The Edmonton Police Service confirms it does not plan to take part in the program
00:01:48.240 based on current staffing and resources.
00:01:51.200 Would you say as a firearms policy researcher,
00:01:53.840 is this the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars to reduce gun violence?
00:01:59.420 No.
00:01:59.880 We know that the majority of gun violence in Canada
00:02:02.020 is not being caused by people who have gone through Canada's rigorous licensing system.
00:02:07.020 And right now there are growing rumors that even at the local level,
00:02:10.700 detachments and police stations aren't exactly rushing.
00:02:14.280 to knock on doors and that's a big problem not for you but for them because this whole thing
00:02:20.680 only works if everybody plays along and it doesn't look like people are especially in
00:02:25.320 alberta and saskatchewan where they're basically saying if you want these guns you're gonna have
00:02:29.880 to come and get them while multiple police services across the country are refusing to
00:02:34.840 participate pointing to a lack of resources and alberta and saskatchewan introduced legislation
00:02:41.080 blocking it altogether. No provincial help, no extra resources, no mandate. And suddenly that
00:02:48.680 big federal plan starts looking a lot weaker. I want to give some people their flowers and these
00:02:54.240 people aren't even American. I'm talking about Canadian gun owners because when their government
00:02:58.560 came around telling them to hand over their firearms, nine out of 10 of them basically said,
00:03:02.980 yeah, we're not doing that. 90% non-compliance. And look, I want to talk about why that matters,
00:03:10.520 why Americans especially need to be paying attention to this,
00:03:13.700 and why it drives me crazy when somebody who lived through a tragedy
00:03:16.640 decides that their personal pain should become gun policy for an entire country.
00:03:21.220 At the Montreal Shooting Club,
00:03:23.180 the gun buyback program has been a target for criticism.
00:03:29.320 90% of the gun owners have basically told the government,
00:03:34.620 look, go kick rocks. We ain't returning anything.
00:03:37.660 Man, I genuinely love this.
00:03:40.100 and here's why it hits different these are canadians canada doesn't have a second amendment
00:03:45.580 there's no constitutional protection for their right to own these guns the government came at
00:03:50.280 them with the full force of federal law a deadline a whole program and the overwhelming majority of
00:03:55.680 them still said nah we ain't doing it they did that on principle alone and this is where people
00:04:02.540 in ottawa still don't get it this isn't just about policy this is people's property family heirlooms
00:04:08.880 tools for work ranchers protecting livestock and the feds are still acting like people are simply
00:04:14.860 going to give them up it's not happening and they know it liberal mp natalie provost survived
00:04:21.620 ecole polytechnique and fought for gun control she says the spread of disinformation hurt the
00:04:27.420 program's uptake the gun lobby and the conservative they just created more confusion it's sort of
00:04:35.320 Typical for the liberals to blame everybody but themselves for their failed programs.
00:04:39.320 The gun lobby and conservatives who oppose the program pushing back.
00:04:43.320 They're attacking licensed, law-abiding, trained and tested farmers, hunters and sports shooters.
00:04:50.800 The government says anyone who's not part of this program and is still in possession of one of these banned firearms
00:04:56.700 has until October 30th to dispose or deactivate it at their own expense.
00:05:02.080 If not, they could face criminal charges.
00:05:04.200 So what happens when you try to push something that people won't accept and local law enforcement doesn't prioritize?
00:05:11.740 You get resistance. Quiet, but real resistance.
00:05:15.400 As the federal government moves ahead with its ban of more than 2,000 assault-style firearms,
00:05:21.000 Prince Albert Police Chief Patrick Noget, who also heads the province's Police Chiefs Association, is questioning how enforcement will work.
00:05:29.500 Is there going to be an expectation for police to show up at a doorstep if provided with a list of individuals that is in possession of one of these firearms?
00:05:36.580 Owners will be contacted with instructions to either turn their guns over to local police after scheduling a time online or keep them by proving the gun has been deactivated.
00:05:47.820 Statistics Canada says in 91% of shooting homicides, the accused did not have a valid firearms license.
00:05:55.700 We're targeting the wrong individuals. I mean, we're targeting law-abiding gun owners and taking firearms away from them and spending a lot of money to do it.
00:06:04.440 And at the same time, you know, they're not the problem.
00:06:08.120 The federal government says the ban is part of its commitment to tackling gun violence.
00:06:13.200 But Saskatchewan's firearms commissioner says the focus should be on tightening borders.
00:06:17.920 We need to redirect our effort toward border security, mental health, domestic violence, crime, smuggling.
00:06:25.880 And this is one of the many reasons why you're hearing more and more talk about Alberta independence.
00:06:30.260 Autonomy. Not because people want drama, but because they're tired of being told how to live their lives by people who don't understand reality.
00:06:37.920 This ain't loud. This ain't chaotic. This is a line being drawn and it's not going away.
00:06:42.880 Today is the deadline for gun owners to make their declaration as part of the federal buyback program.
00:06:48.580 Public safety says I think it's about 57,000 guns have been declared, but you've budgeted for up to 136,000.
00:06:54.540 So I'm wondering what do you think about the uptake, and are you worried that given it isn't as high as what you budgeted for,
00:06:59.700 that there's still going to be a lot of prohibited weapons out there?
00:07:02.080 Well, first off, I'd like to salute those who've worked on making this possible
00:07:08.560 and those gun owners who've brought forward their weapons for compensation
00:07:15.620 will evaluate the full program and next steps.
00:07:21.040 There's time between now and when the law fully takes effect later in the fall.
00:07:28.900 But what do you think about the uptake, though?
00:07:30.860 I mean, is it as high as you want?
00:07:32.940 It's not as high as you want it to be.
00:07:33.800 Well, it's not as high as the estimates of the numbers of, by definition, I mean, your figures are, I have the same understanding of the broad figures, so there's obviously a gap there.
00:07:46.000 But I want to hear from you.
00:07:47.300 Are you seeing the same pushback where you live?
00:07:49.540 Let me know in the comments.
00:07:50.460 And if you know somebody who thinks they're the only one feeling this way, share this video with them.
00:07:55.360 Let them know they're not alone.
00:07:56.800 Stay free, and I'll see you in the next one.
00:07:58.600 Well, thank you for watching. If you want to continue to get updates on this story and not media spin, make sure to hit subscribe and hit the like button because this story is moving fast and we're going to keep you informed all the way.