Private Member's Motion (11 April 2024)

From Hansard (11 April 2024)

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Regulation of Legal Firearms Possession

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by Fred Bradshaw (Sask Party - Carrot River Valley):

That this Assembly calls upon the Government of Canada to devolve all relevant parts of The Firearms Act to the province of Saskatchewan in order to allow it to administer and regulate legal firearms possession.

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It’s always happy to be on my feet and speak to the motion put forward by yourself and seconded by the member from Melville-Saltcoats.

Before I get into too much, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a second and just recognize a former constituent sitting in the west gallery, Fritz Wyssen. It’s critical for a democracy to have an informed and knowledgeable electorate to keep a functioning democracy happening, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so thank Mr. Wyssen for his due diligence on performing that duty here today.

Speaking about the motion that yourself brought forward, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you did an excellent job. And I want to use the time allotted to me today and speak a little bit more on a historical perspective on the issue. The Hudson’s Bay Company had the sole contract to conduct trade from 1670 to 1870 in Rupert’s Land, and that area encompassed large parts of present-day Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. One of the number one traded goods, Mr. Deputy Speaker, between the Hudson’s Bay Company and local First Nations was firearms.

Indigenous people were very quick to adopt this new technology, and firearms became prized possessions throughout their culture. If you ever have a second, go to the Assiniboine Gallery in this building, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and take a look at the portrait of Chief Big Bear. He purposely had his portrait done with his axe and his rifle. These are important tools used by both First Nations people and all of the Hudson’s Bay employees of the day.

Now moving forward, Mr. Deputy Speaker, our pioneer ancestors who settled this land came here with little possessions, and they worked very hard to tame a challenging and very unforgiving landscape. These people were farmers, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and they came with very few livestock. They were ambitious and hard-working, but the vast majority of the settlers were very financially challenged. These were very poor people, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

As they worked hard to grow their herds of cattle, it was almost unheard of for people to butcher their own livestock that they were raising for sale. So they used wildlife and used firearms to harvest that wildlife to provide sustenance for themselves and their families. It became a very family affair, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that family affair continues to this day.

The other day, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there were guests in the Chamber and I was introducing them. And there was Retired Brigadier General Cliff Walker, and I thanked him for his service. And at the end of my introduction, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I made a statement, “up the Johns.” And I know many in this House know exactly what that means, but there’s a lot of people watching on television today, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I want to just educate them.

In 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and Britain declared war on Germany. Canada, being part of the Commonwealth, immediately went on a war of footing. The Regina Rifles regiment, a militia unit, was called into service. Volunteers arrived from all across the province to serve their country. The regiment had very little funds, equipment, or gear but they trained vigorously as best they could in local farmers’ fields till being sent overseas to England to continue training and wait for further assignment.

The other military units looked down on them as being a bunch of Farmer Johns, a very derogatory term that the unit took upon itself to turn it around and use it as a battle cry. Hence the term, “up the Johns.”

Their first foray into battle, Mr. Deputy Speaker, was June 6th, 1944 on a beach in Normandy. D-Day was the largest armada ever assembled in the history of mankind and it was to begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi domination. They had the distinction that day, Mr. Deputy Speaker, as the largest armada — this is the most, the largest military force — ever assembled in the history of mankind. And they had the distinction that day, Mr. Deputy Speaker, of advancing the furthest inland of any unit. And they also resisted a very savage counteract from Nazi forces that day. That deserves some applause. That was the largest.

Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, ask yourself, why were these men so successful? I mean there could be a myriad of reasons, but one reason I am very sure of is the fact that virtually all of these men knew how to handle a rifle long before they ever volunteered for military service and were proficient hunters at home.

It’s important to note as well, Mr. Deputy Speaker, 40 men from Peepeekisis First Nation also served in that unit during World War II. The bronze statue that was viewed the other day at the west side of the Legislative Building, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is tentatively going to be going out to Peepeekisis First Nation. They’re having a ceremony there on the 21st of April as well.

You know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, all of this historical data I’m presenting is just trying to educate people on how important firearms are to our heritage. These are lived stories that resonate with families throughout the province. There is a current LiberalNDP coalition government that has absolutely no understanding, appreciation, or empathy towards law-abiding firearm owners. They have absolutely no clue on how challenging it is to get a licence, a possession and acquisition licence.

And the member from Melville-Saltcoats did such a good job in his speech on informing the House on how demanding that training truly is. We have a very good system already in place. It’s worked well for years until this Liberal-NDP coalition government thought it would be politically expedient to demonize law-abiding firearm owners.

This government on this side, Mr. Deputy Speaker, has taken many steps, and one of the first steps we have to protect the rights of law-abiding firearms owners is beginning with appointing our own Chief Firearms Officer, Robert Freberg. There are over 125,000 firearm owners across the province of Saskatchewan. That’s 10 per cent of the population, and we will always diligently work to protect your right to own your firearm.

I also want to talk about our Attorney General of Saskatchewan. She’s applying to intervenor status on the legal challenges to the federal government’s ban on the assault-style firearms. And that entire statement — assault-style firearms — I can’t stand that statement. If you’re going to ban something, you have to have a definition, and they have never given a clerical definition of what an assault-style firearm is.

It really just shows, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the level of true incompetence in the coalition government. And these bans are purely political in nature, partisan in nature, and this case will be heard before the Federal Court of Appeal shortly. This government is focused and always standing up for Saskatchewan and we will never back down.

You know, the members opposite, we just had a . . .

[Applause].

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you. The members opposite, we just had a debate on affordability and wasteful spending, and they always talk about that. And I just want to talk about some NDP wasteful spending.

The federal Liberals’ coalition government promised that their gun buy-back scheme would only cost $400 million and would remove many dangerous firearms, so-called, off the streets. Latest data in an article in the National Post published April 9th shows that they’ve spent over $42 million — fully supported by the NDP — and they have not removed one firearm yet at all.

An access to information request from the National Post shows costs ballooning to over $2 billion. This has been an absolutely colossal waste of money, has not helped one person other than some government lackeys in a make-work project. It does nothing for safety, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It does nothing for people’s security, and it does absolutely nothing to remove firearms from criminal hands.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, the whole issue boils down to something I think is a very simple concept — trust. Why does the federal government not trust what is statistically one of the most lawabiding segments of society? Why does the Liberal-NDP coalition not trust over 10 per cent of Saskatchewan people? And why is the NDP supporting this misuse of taxpayer dollars in — their own words — a cost-of-living crisis?

Let me be very clear, Mr. Deputy Speaker. There are stringent laws in firearm ownership, and this is a very good thing. But what the federal Liberal-NDP coalition government proposes does nothing for Saskatchewan people, and that’s why I am asking all members of this House to support this motion:

That this Assembly calls upon the Government of Canada to devolve all relevant parts of the Firearms Act to the province of Saskatchewan in order to allow it to administer and regulate legal firearms possession.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I adjourn debate.

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