Ukraine Awaiting Guns Banned In Canada

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

OTTAWA/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Canada’s Liberal government has pledged to donate banned firearms to Ukraine, which is facing a blood-stained Christmas with Russian troops backed by North Korean forces capturing more territories.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc argues that 324 newly identified firearm varieties belong on the battlefield “to defend Ukraine’s democracy” but not in the hands of Canadian hunters or sport shoot

“This means these firearms can no longer be used,” LeBlanc warned.

The federal government “is working with provinces, territories, and police on a planned buyback of prohibited weapons from individual owners,” officials said.

The comments follow expressions of concern by gun-control advocates that many assault-style firearms were not included in a 2020 ban.

In May 2020, some 1,500 makes and models of firearms were banned, which grew to more than 2,000 by November of this year as new variants were identified.

Defense Minister Bill Blair confirmed that Canada approached Ukrainian authorities to donate these arms.

ASSISTING UKRAINIANS

In comments monitored by Worthy News on Sunday, he said Kyiv expressed interest in some of the guns.

“Every bit of assistance we can offer to the Ukrainians is one step toward their victory,” Blair stressed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed for more military aid, saying his country could face 100,000 North Korean troops.

At least 11,000 have already joined the battle with Russian forces. Kyiv has been trying to stop a full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022.

Yet Canada’s opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called the donation of firearms a “stunt” by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s struggling government that attacks “licensed and law-abiding hunters and sport shooters.”

Yet supporters of the measure argue that Canada has had far fewer mass shootings than the U.S. due to a lack of easy access to guns, though Canada’s population is smaller.

MASSACRE REMEMBERED

The newly announced measures come around the eve of the 35th anniversary of the École Polytechnique in Montreal shooting, where a gunman killed 14 women at that public university before killing himself.

The Ruger Mini-14 used by the gunman, Marc Lepine, was among the weapons included in the 2020 ban.

Nathalie Provost, a survivor who was wounded in the attack, said Thursday she was targeted for being a woman studying engineering.

“These are just killing weapons, war weapons, military weapons, so I’m proud we are doing something,” Provost told reporters.

It was not immediately clear how the firearm announcement would impact public opinion polls, which have been unfavorable for the governing party in part due to economic concerns and high rental and mortgage prices.

An Abacus Data survey published last month showed Poilievre’s Conservative Party of Canada leading with a 43 percent vote share if elections were to be held today.

Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada is tied with the New Democrats in second place with just 21 percent of votes.

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