After pleas from Manitoba, Walmart decides to pull machetes from website, stores across Canada
CBC
Walmart Canada will stop selling machetes — a type of weapon frequently used in violent crimes — in stores across the country, after Manitoba's government pressured the retailer to restrict online sales.
The company "will no longer sell long-bladed weapons Canada-wide," spokesperson Felicia Fefer said Wednesday night in an email.
"We're currently removing them from sale in our stores and online."
Fefer noted the company's Manitoba stores already did not offer in-person sales of long-bladed weapons.
Walmart didn't explain why it would stop selling machetes, but CBC News reported a week ago that Walmart and Amazon Canada were so far ignoring the province's requests to impose restrictions on online sales.
On Monday, Amazon informed the province it would halt machete shipments to Manitoba addresses.
Two days later, Walmart said it would go further than the province's ask and stop selling the products in-person and online across the country.
The company realized "it's cleaner to just stop the sales across the country," Justice Minister Matt Wiebe told CBC News in an interview Wednesday.
"It also shows that they're willing to understand the impact that these weapons are having on our streets, that these are used in violent attacks. We appreciate them stepping up and being good corporate citizens."
Manitoba's rules around machete sales, which came into effect Dec. 31 and only apply to in-store sales, require businesses to sell the items only to adults with photo identification, and to keep records of their sales for two years.
They must also keep the items stored in a way that prevents shoppers from accessing them without assistance.
But the provincial law doesn't apply to online sales, and as a result, customers of sites like Amazon and Walmart were previously able to buy machetes without disclosing their age or providing an ID.
That led Manitoba to write two letters to these companies — issued Dec. 6, 2024, and Feb. 6, 2025 — asking them to "comply with the intent" of provincial legislation when selling machetes and other long-bladed weapons online.
CBC News previously found dozens of machetes for sale across Amazon and Walmart's websites, before the retailers' new business directives came into place, with the option available to have these products delivered to customers' doors.
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