Gun control group calls Trudeau government's buyback program a 'waste' of money

The Trudeau government is losing a key ally in its efforts to take hundreds of thousands of military-style firearms out of circulation, jeopardizing one of the top items in its public security agenda.

Launched in 2020, the federal government's plan to buy back and destroy firearms it has banned — such as AR-15s — has long been vilified by firearms industry groups and the Conservative Party of Canada.

But the project is now coming under friendly fire from PolyRemembers, a gun-control group that is threatening to withdraw its support for the buyback program unless Ottawa broadens its scope to include military-style firearms that remain legal.

The group warns that owners of banned firearms will be able to use their federal compensation cheques to obtain other guns that offer many of the same characteristics and mechanical functions as the banned firearms.

"It's a waste of Canadians' money. We are not reducing the risk level, we are just replacing the makes and models," said PolyRemembers spokesperson Nathalie Provost.

The cost of the program has not yet been made public but it's expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The current version of the program is "a sieve," said Provost, who survived numerous bullet wounds in the massacre that took the lives of 14 women at the Polytechnique engineering school in Montreal nearly 35 years ago.

"If our safety is important to politicians, we have to do this buyback program. But if we do it, we have to do it efficiently, not just for appearances. And right now, it's just for appearances," she said.

The group points out that other semi-automatic, military-style firearms — such as the Crypto made by Crusader Arms and the Kodiak Defence WK180-C semi-automatic rifle — remain legal in Canada.

The criticism comes as Ottawa prepares to recover firearms that were banned in 2020 and that retailers have been forced to keep in their inventory.

The second phase of the program — which will aim to recover hundreds of thousands of firearms currently in the hands of individual owners — is planned for spring 2025.

In both cases, the government buyback will target 1,500 firearm models and components. It's a complex project, especially since Canada Post refused to participate earlier this year, citing safety concerns.

Much of the work will be overseen by the RCMP but Ottawa says it's banking on support from provincial police forces in Ontario and Quebec.

Despite PolyRemembers' opposition, the federal government is refusing to change its plans just prior to the launch of the program, which looks to recover and dispose of more than 150,000 prohibited firearms and components across the country.