Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is defending the trial run of his government’s firearms buyback program, which collected and destroyed 25 banned guns in Nova Scotia last fall.
“The pilot was never to test the quantitative aspect of the program,” Anandasangaree told reporters Monday. “As an overall pilot, I believe it is successful.”
Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed about 2,500 types of guns, arguing they belong only on the battlefield. The federal government says the national buyback program, which has been budgeted at more than $700 million, is meant to provide owners with fair compensation for their outlawed firearms.
Anandasangaree says the pilot highlighted some technical issues that will be fixed when the full program rolls out in the coming weeks.
“We were able to correct a number of issues that people had identified, both on the online portal and in other means, and I believe we are well poised to be able to launch the program in the coming weeks,” the minister says. “We do anticipate much greater uptake.”
It is not the first time Anandasangaree has faced questions about the controversial program.
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In September, Global News obtained leaked audio of a lengthy conversation about the impending gun buyback program between Anandasangaree and a tenant of a Toronto residential property owned by the minister.
The audio, recorded without the minister’s knowledge, includes a man saying he will refuse to turn over his firearms and voicing concerns about whether he will be arrested and charged by police, as well as other frustrations over the buyback program.
At one point in the back-and-forth, Anandasangaree says, “Don’t ask me to explain the logic to you on this.”
The minister walked back those comments in the House of Commons days later.
“My comments were misguided,” Anandasangaree said. “Having said that, Mr. Speaker, it’s important to have the program in place. It’s what Canadians are looking for.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre hammered the minister over his comments, saying Anandasangaree “accidentally told the truth” that the buyback program “is not worth the money,” and that “they’re going ahead with the bad policy because it’s good politics.”
Poilievre has repeatedly said he would end the Liberal buyback program if elected.
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