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Alberta

Have your say on provincial and federal firearms policy

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4 minute read

From Alberta Government:

Albertans can now speak up about provincial firearms policy and the federal government’s “gun grab.”

Albertans are encouraged to share their opinions through an online survey and through two telephone town hall events being held on Nov. 17 and 23. Information on participating in these activities is available through the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee website. Each town hall will be able to accommodate 1,000 people and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

“The Government of Alberta is committed to protecting public safety and ensuring law-abiding firearms owners are respected. Recent legislation announced by the federal government would punish hard-working farmers, hunters and other lawful gun owners, while failing to address the true problem: the flow of illegal firearms throughout Canada from south of the border. Albertans must be heard, and these consultations will help Alberta’s government develop a responsible firearms-use policy that deters criminals without attacking law-abiding gun owners – and in turn free up the courts for serious matters.”

Kaycee Madu, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General

The Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee, chaired by Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Glasgo, is examining the impact of the federal ban of more than 1,500 firearms. In light of this ban, the committee will consider how provincial firearms policies can best meet the needs of law-abiding Albertans. This work will support responsible gun owners, as will the establishment of a provincial firearms office and the appointment of a chief provincial firearms officer (CPFO).

An implementation team has been set up to oversee the transition to the provincial firearms office, and this winter they will begin a process to identify a suitable CPFO. The Chief Provincial Firearms Office will be operational next summer.

“This engagement will help the committee develop recommendations on how the province of Alberta can better assert itself in areas of provincial jurisdiction. Alberta’s long history of responsible firearms ownership by law-abiding citizens deserves respect; so do Albertans’ property rights. The committee will also make recommendations on how a Chief Provincial Firearms Officer can strengthen the administration of the firearms program to improve services for gun owners.”

MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat Michaela Glasgo, chair of the Alberta Firearms Advisory Committee.

“I encourage gun owners across Alberta to make their voices heard because we are stronger together. I also commend the provincial government’s decision to set up a Chief Provincial Firearms Office and appoint a Chief Provincial Firearms Officer. This is a great way to support the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding firearms owners in Alberta. Safe use of our firearms is ingrained in Alberta’s culture – it is part of who we are.”

David Schoenberg, north central zone director of the International Practical Shooting Confederation, Alberta

Quick Facts

  • On May 1, 2020, the federal government prohibited buying, using and selling thousands of firearms.
  • The federal Canadian Firearms Program is responsible for the administration of the Firearms Actand regulations, and works closely with partners and stakeholders to promote firearms safety.
  • The program’s latest report highlights the following:
    • 3,427 firearms were seized by public service agencies in Alberta during 2018. Nationally, 25,430 were seized.
    • Across Canada, between 2014 and 2018, 84,576 firearms registrations were refused or revoked.
    • There are 316,791 licensed firearms owners in Alberta.
    • At the end of December 2018, there were 218,305 firearms registered to businesses or individuals in the province

 

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Alberta

Alberta introduces bill banning sex reassignment surgery on minors

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith followed through on a promised bill banning so-called ‘top and bottom’ surgeries for minors.

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith made good on her promise to protect kids from extreme transgender ideology after introducing a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors.

“It is so important that all youth can enter adulthood equipped to make adult decisions. In order to do that, we need to preserve their ability to make those decisions, and that’s what we’re doing,” Smith said in a press release.

“The changes we’re introducing are founded on compassion and science, both of which are vital for the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”

Bill 26, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 “reflects the government’s commitment to build a health care system that responds to the changing needs of Albertans,” the government says.

The bill will amend the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”

It will also ban the “use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence” to kids 15 and under “except for those who have already commenced treatment and would allow for minors aged 16 and 17 to choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.”

Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange, the bill’s sponsor, said the province’s legislative priorities include “implementing policy changes to continue our refocusing work, position our health care system to respond to pressures and public health emergencies, and to preserve choice for minors. These amendments reflect our dedication to ensuring our health care system meets the needs of every Albertan.”

Earlier this year, the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith announced  she would introduce the strong pro-family legislation that strengthens parental rights, protecting kids from life-altering, so-called “top and bottom” surgeries as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

With Smith’s UCP holding a majority in the provincial legislature, the passage of Bill 26 is almost certain.

While Smith has done far more than predecessor Jason Kenney to satisfy social conservatives, she has been mostly soft on social issues such as abortion and has publicly expressed pro-LGBT views, telling Jordan Peterson that conservatives must embrace homosexual “couples” as “nuclear families.”

This weekend, thousands of UCP members will gather for the party’s annual general meeting, where Smith’s leadership will be voted on along with many other pro-freedom and family policy proposals from members. Smith is expected to pass her leadership review vote with a large majority.

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Alberta

Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.

An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.

On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.

“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.

Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.

“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”

After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.

Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.

He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.

In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”

“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.

Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.

Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.

The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.

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