OTTAWA—The Ontario Provincial Police is refusing to participate in the Carney government’s upcoming gun buyback program, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Wednesday, as he vowed the federal government will still have a “robust” ability to collect banned weapons in the province.
The OPP’s refusal comes after months of negotiations and throws a wrench in Ottawa’s plans, with the provincial force responsible for more than a quarter of the policing in Ontario. It means the federal government will have to reach agreements with municipal police forces such as É«É«À² Police, Peel Police and others, while finding a solution to cover areas without a local force.
Anandasangaree, who has promised to start and finish the program by the end of 2026, told reporters many police forces have already signed up, but his office would not provide specifics.
“More information will be forthcoming as we announce the program,” Anandasangaree said as headed into Liberal caucus meeting. “I’m very confident that we will have collection facilities available in Ontario.”
“We will have police of jurisdictionÌý— many of them have already signed on, so I’m very confident that we will have a robust ability to collect guns in Ontario,” he added.
Already, the Saskatchewan and Alberta governments, where the RCMP is responsible for policing, have placed roadblocks to participating in the program. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said recently her government would not allow police to take banned guns away from their owners.
The Doug Ford government, meanwhile, had previously indicated the program was not a priority and it didn’t want provincial funding to be allocated towards it.Ìý
In a recent statement, a spokesperson for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said “Ontario police services do not have the resources to attend residential addresses to confiscate previously lawful but now prohibited firearms from lawful gun owners.”
“Although we will not be participating in this program, Ontario residents will have the opportunity to surrender prohibited firearms at local police stations or register them on the federal portal. The federal government can leverage third party service providers of the RCMP to administer this federal program,” the statement said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney recently indicated the program would have “different processes in different provinces.”
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