The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux - April 29, 2023


Standing up for law-abiding gun owners


Episode Stats

Length

13 minutes

Words per Minute

185.22601

Word Count

2,520

Sentence Count

179

Misogynist Sentences

3


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup. I'm your host, Rachel Emanuel.
00:00:17.320 Today, I'm joined by a very special guest, Tracy Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for
00:00:21.400 Firearms Rights. You guys likely remember that in May 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
00:00:26.600 government banned over 1,500 models of firearms through an order in council. Well, Wilson and
00:00:31.800 the CCFR spent much of last week in federal court challenging that ban. And she has an update for us
00:00:37.580 on how that went and what she expects the results to be. I'm joined by Wilson now. Tracy, thank you
00:00:42.900 so much for joining me today on the Alberta Roundup. So we were just chatting a little bit and you've
00:00:47.140 pretty much spent the last two weeks in federal court where the CCFR is challenging Ottawa's
00:00:52.280 firearms ban. Can you give me a little update on what some of the arguments the CCFR has made
00:00:57.320 and how you feel about the court proceedings?
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00:01:30.660 Yeah, well, thanks for the opportunity.
00:01:32.480 So we've been in court April 11th through the 20th.
00:01:35.440 We had an eight day hearing here in Ottawa in the federal court, which is inside the Supreme
00:01:40.860 Court building downtown on Wellington Street.
00:01:43.240 And this was an opportunity for us to finally bring forward our case.
00:01:46.800 We've been under case management for about two years now, working with Associate Chief
00:01:52.660 Justice Jocelyn Gagné.
00:01:54.660 And now this was our, you know, our time to plead our case.
00:01:58.880 So the CCFR challenge is pretty complex, actually.
00:02:02.400 There's about seven parts to it.
00:02:04.260 There's a couple of charter arguments in there, some administrative law.
00:02:08.000 And basically, we're just sort of picking away at the way the Liberals did this.
00:02:12.400 For the most part, it revolves around the fact that they used an OIC, an ordering council,
00:02:18.420 which for American listeners is sort of like an executive order.
00:02:22.200 And that's not the appropriate way.
00:02:24.580 It circumvents the democratic process and parliament and the procedures it's supposed to go through.
00:02:31.700 So yeah, we've got them on that.
00:02:33.740 And then some charter stuff.
00:02:34.840 I mean, you know, at the end of the day, I think all Canadians should be interested to know
00:02:39.040 the answer to the question of whether or not the government can step into your life,
00:02:44.020 despite the fact you've done nothing wrong or nothing to warrant it,
00:02:48.180 and take property that you acquired legally and have owned for decades without issue.
00:02:54.060 I need to know that.
00:02:55.400 I want to know if the government can do that.
00:02:57.560 So we're going to find out.
00:02:58.700 So the Alberta government, as I covered a few weeks ago, was actually one of what sounds
00:03:02.900 like the only people who are granted intervener status in this case.
00:03:06.740 Of course, the province of Alberta has been one of the biggest champions for firearms right,
00:03:10.780 arguably the largest champion for firearms rights of all the provinces.
00:03:14.540 What arguments did they make in court?
00:03:17.540 Well, they spoke a lot about jurisdiction.
00:03:19.640 And I just want to say I am grateful, eternally grateful,
00:03:23.040 to the government of Alberta and the province of Alberta for stepping in on this.
00:03:27.200 They were granted intervener status.
00:03:29.520 Interestingly enough, there were other applicants who did apply for that status,
00:03:34.720 like Wendy Secure from the Coalition for Gun Control.
00:03:38.000 However, she was denied intervener status, and Alberta was granted it.
00:03:41.880 So it was really nice to have them there on our side.
00:03:44.960 They argued some jurisdictional stuff about the federal government, you know,
00:03:49.640 imposing their will on Albertans and the province of Alberta.
00:03:54.400 So they had some great arguments.
00:03:55.720 They got along great with our legal team.
00:03:57.580 And I know on the final day, all the legal teams, you know, on our side of the courtroom type thing,
00:04:04.720 all went for lunch afterwards.
00:04:06.500 And they were taking selfies outside.
00:04:08.760 And it was just really nice to see.
00:04:10.520 But Alberta has been an overwhelming champion for gun owners on multiple levels.
00:04:17.560 And I'm grateful to the government as a whole, to Tyler Shandro for standing up, and of course, to the Alberta CFO.
00:04:25.200 She's just great.
00:04:26.020 So you've obviously described, you know, a very happy attitude between your two legal teams there.
00:04:30.080 You and I were actually in the same Twitter space just last week,
00:04:33.340 and you mentioned that you were feeling pretty positive about the case.
00:04:35.780 I think you ranked it like a 7.5 out of 10% chance that the case would go your way.
00:04:40.280 Are you still feeling that positive about it?
00:04:42.580 And if so, you know, why do you feel so confident that the court is going to rule in the CCFR's favor?
00:04:48.540 Yeah, I still feel that way.
00:04:50.420 So I think the best thing we can do, of course, you know, like I said, there's seven parts to our court battle.
00:04:59.720 Some of it's charter stuff.
00:05:01.240 Some of it is administrative law.
00:05:02.860 And some of the more boring stuff that's not as exciting when you're listening is the stuff that we'll probably win on.
00:05:09.060 And the reason I feel so hopeful is both the final day of the hearing and the second last day,
00:05:15.120 the government lawyers, the team for the Crown, stood up and approached the judge and said,
00:05:20.620 you know, when she does come back with a decision some months from now,
00:05:24.180 if she rules against them and rules in our favor, you know,
00:05:27.560 they want an opportunity to speak with her about if there's a domino effect from doing that.
00:05:32.700 Because normally when you get a decision, it'll set case precedence.
00:05:37.640 It's case law, right?
00:05:38.900 So I think they're worried that if and when we win this challenge,
00:05:45.220 if it will have an impact on other gun bans or other things that were done through OIC.
00:05:50.600 And the truth is it absolutely will.
00:05:52.880 So I see why they're worried.
00:05:54.880 So I was a little shocked to see them kind of say that out loud and put their cards on the table.
00:05:59.900 But yeah, between all the teams, they did an incredible job sort of tearing down the arguments
00:06:07.940 from the Liberal government's lawyers.
00:06:11.600 And yeah, I feel pretty confident about it.
00:06:13.840 Yeah, that certainly sounds like quite the omission from the federal government.
00:06:17.460 They seem a little bit nervous, definitely, by asking that question.
00:06:20.280 And it's funny that you were very aware of that.
00:06:21.980 I'm caught on to that.
00:06:23.320 I know my viewers are also wondering, when can we expect the ruling on this case?
00:06:26.840 And if it doesn't go your way, if the court doesn't rule in favor of you,
00:06:30.920 where do we go from here?
00:06:33.080 Right.
00:06:33.700 So, I mean, you know, a federal court decision of this size and complexity
00:06:37.640 will probably take a number of months.
00:06:40.320 You know, the standard is usually one to six months,
00:06:43.480 but on average about three months for a decision.
00:06:45.860 They're very long and complicated.
00:06:49.320 So, you know, and it'll explain different parts, maybe what we went on.
00:06:53.360 How it does work, though, is the judge starts working through all the evidence.
00:06:57.820 She doesn't just have the eight days of testimony.
00:07:00.080 She's got probably five, three-foot stacks of paper, all the affidavits,
00:07:05.480 everything that we put forward.
00:07:07.020 The government didn't really have any evidence,
00:07:09.740 but we had, I think it was over 2,800 pages that we provided to her.
00:07:14.360 So she's got a lot of reading and work to do.
00:07:17.320 It'll take her a number of months to do that.
00:07:20.100 But how it works is she starts working through that evidence.
00:07:22.660 And when she gets to a point that she says, oh, okay, this person won,
00:07:27.940 whatever side it is, that's where she stops.
00:07:30.160 There's no real need to go through the rest of it.
00:07:32.860 So it could be as soon as one month, but I would guess about three months.
00:07:38.140 And a lot of people have asked, well, what if we don't win?
00:07:40.440 I mean, there's no guarantee and it's impossible to predict an outcome.
00:07:45.200 And the truth is, if we don't win, then expect it to go to the appeals court
00:07:49.720 and then onto the Supreme Court.
00:07:51.480 We promised gun owners right from the beginning that we would leave no stone unturned,
00:07:56.760 nor avenue unexplored, and we meant it.
00:07:58.940 So we're going to go all the way.
00:08:00.320 And is it fairly safe to assume that if it does go in your way
00:08:03.120 and it doesn't go in the way of the federal government, we'll see the same thing.
00:08:06.080 It'll go to the appeal court and then onto the Supreme Court.
00:08:09.240 I suspect they're not just going to let the issue rest, or am I mistaken on that?
00:08:12.260 I think they will probably also appeal it, but more for the sake that it would bide them
00:08:17.520 a little more time.
00:08:18.920 At the end of the day, they have no idea how to carry out the second part of their gun ban,
00:08:23.800 which is the confiscation end of it, the buyback program, they call it.
00:08:28.320 They have no idea how to do that.
00:08:29.920 It's been almost three years.
00:08:31.060 These are supposedly guns so dangerous that the average Canadian can't own them,
00:08:36.460 regardless of the fact we've had them for generations.
00:08:39.820 And yet here we are almost three years later, and they're still sitting in my gun safe.
00:08:43.640 So I think they're struggling to figure out how they're going to go about confiscating them.
00:08:49.580 I've said right from the beginning, it's logistically impossible.
00:08:52.220 So I think for them, if they could just bide a little more time, they could probably reuse this
00:08:59.160 as a new election promise down the road when it's election time and say, look, if you give us a fourth
00:09:05.000 mandate, this time we'll do it right.
00:09:07.260 Instead of through an OIC, we'll table it in proper legislation.
00:09:11.400 And if you really want these guns banned, you better vote for us one more time.
00:09:15.100 So that's what I expect to happen.
00:09:17.980 You know, we're in it to win it.
00:09:19.660 And I think they're in it just to just to kick the can down the road a little further.
00:09:24.280 And Tracy, you mentioned this a little bit at the beginning of the show.
00:09:26.760 But obviously, you know, firearms owners are just feeling so frustrated.
00:09:29.880 This is property that they have purchased.
00:09:32.300 They have acquired it legally.
00:09:34.000 Firearms owners already have to jump through a lot of hoops to be able to own these weapons.
00:09:38.200 And it seems like the federal government is very easily able to just, you know, retract their ownership.
00:09:44.080 They're able to retract their property.
00:09:45.860 At least that's what the federal government is seeking to do right now.
00:09:48.340 You're obviously working to stop that.
00:09:50.740 What can firearms owners really do to protect themselves?
00:09:53.140 Is it just a nature of who they vote in for their government?
00:09:56.680 Or is there actually other things they can do as well?
00:09:59.720 Yeah, well, I mean, voting, of course, is ultimately we need a political solution here.
00:10:04.640 And of course, there's no law that's ever truly evergreen.
00:10:08.280 So I know a lot of people say, you know, if we get a conservative government,
00:10:11.480 we've got to ensure that they put something in place that we don't keep going back and forth like this.
00:10:16.220 And the unfortunate truth is that there is no such thing as evergreen legislation to protect you for all eternity.
00:10:23.960 We're not the United States.
00:10:25.220 We don't have a Second Amendment.
00:10:27.080 Having said that, though, there's a lot that gun owners can do besides just voting.
00:10:31.900 First of all, they've got to vote.
00:10:34.100 Whenever we do get an election, see if you can book the day off.
00:10:37.680 See if you can go out there, drive people to the polls, speak to five people, talk to five family members,
00:10:43.760 email everybody on your list right now.
00:10:46.440 There's a bunch of pre-advocacy we can do like that.
00:10:50.000 And then more importantly, get out there and volunteer, whether it's for your firearms organizations
00:10:54.720 or for your local conservative candidate.
00:10:58.140 Or I know there in Alberta, you guys have an election coming up.
00:11:00.920 And I can't even fathom looking at the polls, how close it is with the NDP and the UCP.
00:11:07.120 And to me, that's absolutely terrifying.
00:11:09.420 It's like people have forgotten.
00:11:10.460 It would be like bringing Kathleen Wynne back to Ontario.
00:11:13.760 I literally left the province when she was here.
00:11:16.620 So, you know, I think people, unfortunately, for the most part, gun owners just want to be left alone.
00:11:22.740 But we're not in that position.
00:11:24.800 So we are forced to be politically active to organize.
00:11:29.120 And of course, you can always volunteer with the CCFR and check out all the work we do online at ccfr.ca.
00:11:35.640 But I think it's going to take a little more than that.
00:11:38.500 I think we're going to have to do more than just vote.
00:11:41.580 We're going to have to get up and volunteer.
00:11:43.560 We're going to have to put our boots right to the ground.
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00:12:00.700 Yeah, I think that's great insight.
00:12:05.500 I really appreciate it.
00:12:06.320 I know my viewers will as well.
00:12:07.720 I think what you mentioned about gun owners really just wanting to be left alone is really a conservative principle.
00:12:12.580 You know, conservatives just want to be left alone.
00:12:14.740 But what you just mentioned about needing to get involved in politics and volunteer is very astute and very relevant, especially over here in Alberta.
00:12:21.120 As you mentioned, we are heading into an election.
00:12:23.380 The rate is going to drop in just a couple of days.
00:12:25.480 So I really appreciate you coming on the show and giving us this update.
00:12:28.420 And I know my viewers will as well.
00:12:30.400 Again, that was Tracy Wilson from the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights.
00:12:33.780 Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:12:35.860 Thanks, Rachel.
00:12:36.320 Okay, everyone, that's all I have for you today.
00:12:38.320 Thank you so much for joining me this week on the Alberta Roundup.
00:12:41.340 As always, please comment on the video below and let me know what you thought of this week's interview.
00:12:45.560 If you have some suggestions of other guests you would like to see on the show, feel free to let me know as well.
00:12:50.400 As well, if you're able to support independent media, please head over to donate.tnc.news.
00:12:55.180 Thanks so much for listening.
00:12:56.300 Have a great weekend and God bless.
00:13:06.320 Thank you.