A mass shooting in Uvalde Texas, some 2009 miles from Ottawa Canada, seems to have spurred Canada’s Prime Minister to action. Apparently, a gun related tragedy in the wild west of Texas means, to the Prime Minister, that there is an urgent need for action in Canada. Was this a rational act, based on a legitimate need or, just another case of Justin Trudeau’s liberal government grandstanding, over-reaching and taking advantage of a true tragedy for his political gain ? Whether it is as the women’s rights, champion in international events,, declaring the emergency measures act to save Ottawa, or an instant, reactionary gun ban. Trudeau wants to prove he is more socialist than his father was or any world leader for that matter. He wants to be the champion of ALL social causes, real or imagined.
In fairness, Canada does have a real gun violence issue in our cities, with handguns as the primary weapon of choice. Gang violence is an issue. Gun smuggling from the US, through states with almost non existent gun laws is an issue. a revolving door penal system is an issue. But, are guns ,or is gun violence in general an issue in Canada?
Canada’s history with gun violence
Canadians have handled guns since long before the 1830s. A look at Canada’s history of mass shootings would suggest that USA style gun violence has never been a crisis in Canada. Of the23 worst mass shootings in Canada since 1689, nine were attacks by indigenous peoples or attacks on indigenous peoples during land or other disputes in the 18th century. Examples are: the Lachine massacre – August 5, 1689, = 24 people died. – massacre island, Lake of the woods, June 6, 1736, 21 people died. Battle of Port la Joye, July 11, 1746 – 34 people died. Of the 20 remaining mass killings in Canada, Two were psychotic episodes., one was a racist attack on a muslim family using a car. and, A recent attack in Nova Scotia where 11 were killed and 26 injured by a deranged gunman, driving a fake police car, which the police, in order to protect themselves, failed to inform the public The shooter used illegally acquired, weapons, including three obtained from the United States.
The most famous mass shooting in Canada was in 1989 On 6 December 1989, Ecole Polytechnique shooting. A man entered a mechanical engineering classroom at Montreal’s École Polytechnique armed with a semi-automatic weapon. After separating the women from the men, he opened fire on the women while screaming, “You are all feminists.” Fourteen young women were murdered, and 13 other people were wounded. The shooter then turned the gun on himself. In his suicide note, he blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note contained a list of 19 “radical feminists” who he said would have been killed had he not run out of time. It included the names of well-known women in Quebec, including journalists, television personalities and union leaders.
This event led to larger debates about violence against women and stricter gun control laws in Canada. After the events of 6 December, the Coalition for Gun Control was formed. Their efforts contributed to the November 1995 adoption of Bill C-68, the federal firearm control legislation. Its stipulations included mandatory registration of all firearms and licensing for firearm owners; a national registry for all weapons; background checks; and verification processes and controls on ammunition sales. Some, but not all of these restrictions remain today.
A Porous Criminal Justice System
Police groups demand Ottawa get tougher with criminals
But there is a legitimate hand gun problem in Canada’s cities, a problem rooted in two problems. Firstly, an overly lenient criminal justice system, and secondly a poorly controlled illegal gun smuggling epidemic sourced from the USA.
Police organizations are vocal, that Ottawa should overhaul its corrections, sentencing and parole systems. Violent criminals are getting off too easy, says two police associations.
Courts and Prisons
Ottawa should overhaul its corrections, sentencing and parole systems because violent criminals are getting off too easy, two police associations said Tuesday. The Canadian Police Association represents 30,000 officers across the country. Their nationwide petition demands a public inquiry into Canada’s prisons.
“The petition we are launching is a wake-up call for the government to bring an end to the ‘Club Fed’ culture of Corrections Canada,” said Bob Baltin, president of the Police Association of Ontario.
“It is time to instil meaningful consequences for offenders, reinforce public safety, and instil public confidence in our criminal justice system,” he added.
The police associations said rapists and killers spend too little time in prisons that are too “cushy.”
So, simply put, what is the crisis that the Prime Minister is so concerned about? The bill before Canada’s Parliament theoretically is to stop the spread of handguns , while confiscating every long gun in the country, even though criminals who use handguns get light sentences and smuggling runs rampant.
One of the most difficult challenges for Canada is guns being smuggled over the border from the U.S. we see that a lot of guns are coming from the United States, Approximately 60 percent of homicides in 2018 were committed using handguns, which are already prohibited or restricted
But Trudeau isn’t addressing illegal guns or smuggling. Only one point in his bill addresses smuggling. “Fighting gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools for law enforcement to investigate firearms crimes, and strengthening border security measures.” None of which have been implemented. The last sentencing revision for firearms offences was in 1995. But as Emma Jacobs of NPR points out, Canada can change its gun laws, but can’t stop the smuggling of guns from the U.S., or can we? Governments are good at appearing to do something while in reality doing nothing. Several killings in Canada have had the guns involved traced directly to smuggling from the U.S. Canadian Action – Bill52 – 2021 proposes studies.
Real Solutions
What the Government could do:
1 Increase anti-gang and gang mitigation efforts on a national and provincial level.
2.increased enforcement of gang related crimes, with more severe automatic minimum sentences for gang activity.
2. Increase anti smuggling enforcement including the use of advanced technical innovations, focussed task forces and more severe minimum sentences for smuggling.
3. Increased minimum sentences for gun related crimes. USE A GUN! GO TO JAIL!
So much for what should be done and what the problem is
But what is the Trudeau Government going to do
That is an easy question. Nothing. Well nothing relevant anyway. What the Trudeau Liberals want to do is keep the porous justice system, make some speeches about gangs and guns, do little about snuggling , and instead create division between urban and rural Canadians by making a bogus claim that hunters are the dangerous criminals among us. Its hunters and farmers who suddenly decide to kill innocent city folk. They want to take every law abiding citizen’s hunting rifles away and scrap them.
Anyone who believes that these actions are anything but a strategy to impress Trudeau’s socialist extremist base simply isn’t paying attention. Trudeau quickly reversed his position when it came to native hunting, because we know that the Socialists are always ready to support indigenous rights. City socialists don’t care about farmers rights or the rights of people who don’t want to live in a box on the 49th floor. People who have seen a tree in the last 10 years.
so, does Trudeau’s actions make sense
