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The Alberta government will introduce a motion this week under provincial sovereignty legislation to defy the federal gun buy-back program, Premier Danielle Smith announced Saturday during a speech at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting.
The motion, if passed by the legislature, will instruct “provincial entities,” including municipalities and law enforcement agencies, to refuse to enforce or prosecute the assault-style firearms compensation program.
It would also protect Albertans defending themselves from intruders, she said.
“I’ve got a little tip for low-life criminals out there: if you don’t want to get shot, don’t break into someone’s house,” Smith said during her speech. “It’s really that simple, isn’t it?”
Smith addresses thousands of United Conservative Party members at the party’s annual meeting in Edmonton, announcing several new policies while highlighting existing accomplishments. CBC News speaks with commentators and experts for a full analysis.
The provincial government wants police and the justice system to focus on “criminals — not farmers, not ranchers or sport shooters, nor Albertans defending their families and homes,” she said.
Public Safety Canada did not respond Saturday to CBC News’ request for comment. The ministry oversees the gun program, and firearm and policing policy advice falls under its responsibilities.
The Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, passed in December 2022, offers a framework to challenge federal laws and policies in court.
The federal government has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms since May 2020. It developed a buy-back program, which is voluntary, to compensate eligible businesses and individuals who own such weapons.
But there is an amnesty period on this weapons ban. If people and businesses don’t dispose or deactivate those weapons before Oct. 30, 2026, they risk being charged with illegal possession of a prohibited firearm.
“Obviously, firearm owners are not happy about this, because it’s just another step in a 50-year history of Ottawa … targeting law-abiding firearms owners with increasingly draconian laws and confiscation and devaluation of property,” Teri Bryant, Alberta’s chief firearms officer, told CBC News Saturday.
Bryant’s office works under the provincial justice ministry.
Financial investment, sentimentality and sport are among the reasons people are against the federal policy, Bryant said. She also said the ban also hasn’t had an apparent effect on criminal misuse.
The Alberta government has taken steps over the past few years to try to push back against federal gun restrictions.
In September, Smith included firearm-related stipulations in her mandate letters to Justice Minister Mickey Amery and Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis.
Amery’s mandate letter stated he must “relentlessly defend Albertans’ right to lawful and safe possession of firearms and affirm Albertans’ right of self-defence.”
Ellis was mandated to ensure all policing priorities are aligned with that direction.
Part of the intention behind the upcoming motion is to signal to the federal government that it shouldn’t rely on any provincial entities to cooperate with its buy-back program, nor help with confiscating guns from registered owners, Amery told CBC News Saturday.
The Justice Ministry will not direct prosecutors to specific cases, he said, but he can — and plans to — issue guidelines as a general policy to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.
This motion, if passed, could put RCMP officers serving in Alberta in a bind, because they fall under federal jurisdiction. Amery said it’s up to that agency to choose whether they follow Ottawa’s directive.
“Given the fact that we’ve heard countless report that the RCMP all across Canada is severely understaffed, we think that their priorities should lie in other places,” he said.
Bryant said police officers pursued that career to stop criminals and protect law-abiding citizens.
“It’s really important for police to maintain the confidence of a community,” she said. “And it’s pretty hard to maintain that confidence if you are out confiscating lawfully acquired property from citizens who haven’t done anything wrong.”
The Opposition NDP did not immediately respond to CBC News’ request for comment.
