Saskatchewan's Minister of Policing and Public Safety Christine Tell says she does not want provincial police resources involved in a federal firearm buyback program, a position the federal government is calling reckless.
Tell's letter does not explain exactly how the government would go about preventing the use of police resources in the buyback.
"We don't see that it's going to do anything to enhance public safety in the province. The people that they're targeting with this buyback or confiscation ... aren't the individuals that are causing the issue," Freberg told CBC on Wednesday.Freberg said the provincial government, under its contract with the RCMP, "sets the priorities as to what we see with the best value for the taxpayers dollars.
Freberg said it's the government's position that the owners of the now-prohibited firearms are already regulated and monitored. On Thursday, the office of federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino sent a statement in response to Tell's letter. "While conservative politicians want to make the AR-15 and other assault weapons legal again, we remain resolute in our work to make our communities safer," said the statement from Mendicino's office.suggested that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed supported Bill C-21, the legislation aimed at banning a range of "assault-style" weapons.