Ottawa rejects NTI request for Inuit exemption on assault-style weapons ban
Owners of newly prohibited weapons have until Oct. 30 to dispose of them
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is calling on the federal government to extend the amnesty period of its firearms ban considering the unique circumstances of subsistence hunters in Nunavut. (File photo)
The federal government’s Oct. 30 deadline to turn in assault-style weapons will stand, say federal representatives, despite Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s call for an extended amnesty period and the territorial government’s support of that request.
The law, which prohibits ownership of more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style weapons deemed unsuitable for hunting or sport shooting, was passed by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in May 2020.
It included an amnesty period before gun owners had to hand in or destroy their newly banned assault weapons or face possible criminal prosecution. This period expires on Oct.30.
NTI called on the federal government on March 26 to extend the amnesty period by five years and to allow Inuit the right to continue using these firearms during this period.
“The resolution also urges the government to explore evidence-based alternatives that allow Nunavut Inuit to protect, feed their families and exercise constitutionally protected harvesting rights,” the resolution said.
The release said NTI supports the government’s efforts to curb gun crime, but noted the unique circumstances faced by people living in Nunavut.
“NTI has consistently advocated that quickly-reloading rifles are essential in Nunavut for deterring predators” like polar bears and grizzly bears, while enabling the “harvesting of fast-moving wildlife like wolves and seals and reducing food insecurity.”
The organization is also concerned about possible consequences Inuit could face for engaging in subsistence activities with a banned weapon.
Inuit do deserve more consultation on the matter, said Andrew Blackadar, assistant deputy minister of public safety for the territorial Department of Justice.
“I think the concerns outlined in that news release are worth exploring,” he said.
“I think the lifestyle and the way of life in the Arctic and Nunavut in particular is unique. And when individuals are on the land, they do have to defend themselves from natural predators.”
But the federal government is sticking with the Oct. 30 deadline, said Simon Lafortune, spokesperson for the minister of public safety, in an email.
“The Government of Canada recognizes the unique circumstances and traditions of Inuit and other Indigenous communities,” he said.
“Our government respects and values the long-standing tradition of hunting and sport shooting in Canada and recognizes that these activities are part of everyday life in the North.”
There are still 19,000 legal firearms models available for these purposes, Lafortune added.
Ahhh yes NTI , we need to keep our AK-47’s and AR-15s…. for seals of course lmao
The Mini 14 is on Trudeau’s smoke and mirrors banned list. It is an extremely practical firearm for farmers, ranchers and the Inuit too.
This law was a poorly planned knee jerk reaction to the NS shooter…… and contains nothing that would have stopped the NS shooter.
A waste of time and money, which is why so many groups are refusing to participate.
The mini 14 is a wonderful gun for Inuit, I owned one, it is easy to maneuver being very short. The 223 semi-automatic gun is stainless, a great gun for seals, or caribou. But the short length, semi-automatic, and easily obtainable high cappacity clips also make it an ideal assault rifles for some demented individual. Inuit have alternatives, ruger also make a stainless 223 bolt action. Do good hunters need semiautomatic guns?
There never were “easily avialable” high capacity magazines available for the Mini 14 series in Canada. They were banned by the Conservatives Kim Campbell, then by Bill Clinton with the support of Bill Ruger, the founder of Sturm Ruger. He agreed to only sell them to law enforcement in the 1990’s.
The fact that you said the .223 was great for Caribou, reveals the liar that you are.
Coyotes and smaller deer species, for sure, but nothing that large.
Quit distributing lies for a shoddy law that you so clearly crave. Regardless where you clearly stand on it.
Get over it.
.223 calibre has been proven to be an effective round for deer/caribou. Just because you can’t wrap your head around it, doesn’t mean its false.
Lol nobody in Canada has ever had access to AR-15’s and AK-47’s for the purpose of hunting maybe other than the Valmet rifle gifted to hunters by the government – Even then, those rifles are rare and really hard to find. There is genuine concern over predator defense with semi-autos. You want something that allows you to have quick follow up shots especially when a predator is rapidly approaching – what happens when you’ve used 3-5 rounds out of your bolt action rifle and then you have to load a cartridge 1 by 1? When seconds count, you don’t have time to worry about manipulating a bolt or reloading. Rifles like the Mini-14 and Mini-30 were fairly popular for general hunting and were perfect for packing out on the land. Other rifles such as the T97, M305/M14, Semi auto shotguns were cheap and accessible to hunters who needed it the most. A lot of high-powered rifles hunters used on dangerous game/sea mammals were also banned. These were hunting rifles that are most ethical for kills on dangerous game and whales. Rifles with more than 10,000 joules of energy at muzzle were banned – All of a sudden, these owners turned into criminals. It’s also about freedom, and not prosecuting and turning law abiding gun owners and hunters into criminals. One can also argue that access to handguns for animal defense should also be allowed so as long as laws are being complied with. Worst case scenario you get knocked to the ground and mauled, you’d at least have 1 last opportunity to safe yourself and others around you. Quit going after legal gun owners, put that money in to CBSA and target the gun and drug smugglers at the border. Hunters and target shooters aren’t the problem, it’s the drug dealers and career criminals with illegal guns that are the problem.
100% agreed
You can say this until you’re blue in the face, but if someone never needed a firearm for predator protection, to put food on the table, or has never been sport shooting, they just don’t get it.
I don’t think they ever will. It’s our unfortunate reality.
Good for the government, bad move on NTI’s part.
This is hilarious for so many reasons.
1- you have people who honestly believe this is banning AK-47 and AR-15’s …because thats what the cbc says and they would never lie.
2- you have people who honestly believe that once guns are removed from non-criminals, crime will stop. Much like when they criminalized crime, all crime stopped
3- elections have consequences, you can’t keep voting liberal/ndp without eventually having to suffer the consequences of their policies.
Your move voters. Give up your guns in the name of safety all the while the soft on crime approach is keeping more violent offenders in the street…or a reality wake up call of some sort that maybe this liberal/NDP stuff doesn’t actually work and its just words that make people feel warm and fuzzy.
Wonderfully stated
All semi autos should be illegal, including the 10/22.
Would you go head to head with a 8 foot polar bear with a one shot rifle? Funny enough even one shot rifles got banned so at the end of the day you will be left with a one shot .22lr, let me see how you would manage that. Polar bears hunt humans for food
Would you? That’s dumb. .12 shotguns with 6-round barrels are not illegal. That’s all you need for bear deterrence and defence.
A ban on technology 135 years in existence, or functionally the same as a revolver format? Not bloody likely as much as the most ignorant urbanite is lead by the politics of the lowest denominator.
Man, you claim before that you apparently owned a Mini-14. I call BS. You now want to ban the 10/22 but claim you owned a Mini-14?
But how could you own such a scary assault rifle? Wouldn’t it have immediately compelled you to become a criminal or mass shooter? Based on your logic, you must be a sociopath, seeing as you owned one (which I think is utter BS. I don’t think you’ve ever even handled a gun).
It’s voters like you who trample on the rights of others. Why do you feel the right to legislate how others live? You have no knowledge of firearms, no data to back up your conclusions. You’re just as bad as Trudeau, trying to dictate how everyone lives because you’re made uncomfortable and overly sensitive.
Gun owners are statistically some of the most law abiding citizens in the country, significantly less likely to commit a crime than non license holders.
Guess what, fun fact, not a single person has EVER been murdered by a legal owner with an AR-15 in Canada, ever. NS was a smuggled firearm, and the only other handful of murders were also illegal firearms (including several stolen from the RCMP). You’re more likely infact, to be murdered by a AR-15 stolen from the RCMP, than you are by a licensed owner with their AR.
Infact, your neighbour owning a car is drastically more dangerous to you, than your neighbour legally owning an AR15. The data literally proves it.
You’re not a gun owner or hunter, quit pretending to be one acting like you have any idea what you’re talking about.
“Guess what, fun fact, not a single person has EVER been murdered by a legal owner with an AR-15 in Canada, ever”
That’s because Richard Landrie was shot by police before he could put a second round into his hostage, Kevin Bourk. Bourk only received a minor wound to his hand, fortunately.
Just another wasted talks between law makers.. it’s all for a total control over each human.. apartheid society, within from fra away… Canada is sold out now.. and being auctioned off in Europe..
How about an exemption for Canadian Rangers?
Gets to almost the same place.
An exemption for ALL or an exemption for NONE. Don’t let them divide our already small group into fractions. That’s how they win. NTI was wrong to even suggest it.
Nunavut has to pass legislation to protect the rights of Canadians, the list is an overreach of the government. It has not been reviewed and has included hunting shotguns and rifles. Including 22lr the most basic firearm for hunting ptarmigan. It’s all a political show that hurts Canadians.
Cloning the Saskatchewan model would be a good start.
NTI I agree was wrong to seek out a race based exemption. That is not the way to do this. Everyone in Canada should be treated equally, and we already only number in the 2.5mil range as firearms owners, hunters and sport shooters.
Nunavut needs to follow in Alberta and Sasks footsteps and pass legislation to protect their citizens from this federal overreach, and direct the crown prosecutors not to prosecute reasonable/”lawful” cases of possession of these “prohibited” rifles.
I do agree that the arctic has a good case for semi automatics and even handguns, they are needed for animal defence, but by the same token couldn’t this be said about any remote regions of Canada where grizzlies, wolves, moose, cougars all roam as well? While the arctic has polar bears which are a different beast, grizzlies can be just as dangerous (although maybe not quite as aggressive). Any of those animals can kill a person, and there is sustenance hunting all across the country. Making a specific carve out for one race in one particular region is not the way to defeat this federal overreach.
Carney has chosen to foolishly carry on with this Trudeau failure and he will end up having to wear it one day when the program crashes and burns. Declaration period just ended and they received around 60,000 declarations out of an estimated 2,000,000 “prohibited” firearms in the country. The number 130,000 they keep claiming is only the registered restricted rifles, but they also banned well over a million non registered hunting rifles as well.
I’ve had a Mini-14 for 30 years. I’ve caught many tuktu, seals, and even geese with it. It’s a sturdy, dependable, lightweight gun that is the closest thing to one-size-fits-all gun for Nunavut. With the exception of whales and walrus it’s good for everything. It’s easy to maintain and ammo is plentiful.
Lots of people who’ve never hunted wanting to exert control over people that do in these comments. It’s weird.
Good thing Lori Idlout is now at the big kids table and will fight for us.
LOL. Right?
Straight from Article 5 of the Nunavut Agreement;
Methods of Harvesting
5.7.42 An Inuk or assignee pursuant to Sub-section 5.7.34(a) may employ any type,
method or technology to harvest pursuant to the terms of this Article that does
not:
(a) conflict with a non-quota limitation on type, method or technology of
harvest established by the NWMB for a valid conservation purpose under
Sections 5.6.48 to 5.6.51;
(b) conflict with laws of general application regarding humane killing of
wildlife, public safety and firearms control; or
(c) result in harmful alteration to the environment.
Why is NTI wasting our money on frivolous, settled legal matters while Inuit go hungry? It seems we are continually subject to poor leadership where our leaders jump on the issue of the day to try to appear relevant.
Presumably, NTI consulted with HTOs on this matter before whining to the Feds. I guess neither NTI nor our so clued in HTOs bothered to read the part of our modern treaty that already figured on this eventuality.
NTI has one job; uphold our rights under the Nunavut Agreement. Step 1 in this is knowing what our rights are (and are not). NTI, do your job.
The law prohibits ownership of makes and models of assault-style weapons deemed UNSUITABLE for hunting or sport shooting. Why is there such a devotion to weaponry?! As mentioned, these are NOT SUITABLE for hunting. Where is the consideration to victims of gun crime? Gun crime is on the rise in Canada. Policy is to ensure public safety. Enforce this law and quit bending over for people who have no consideration for the intent of the law or its impacts on victims.