Liberal Government Proclaims National Day Against Gun Violence

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about gun violence at the OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto on June 1, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

The Liberal government has proclaimed that National Day Against Gun Violence will be held annually on the first Friday of June, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming it will be a “Day of remembrance and a time to recommit ourselves to building a Canada free of gun violence.”

Trudeau made the announcement June 1 during a press conference in Toronto, alongside Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien, as well as  representatives of the Toronto Raptors basketball team.

“Our government is here to work with you as partners. Community members, advocates, families of victims, doctors, teachers, police officers, we’re here to work alongside you on the National Day Against Gun Violence, and every day, because every Canadian should have the freedom to go to their supermarket, their school or their place of worship, without fear,” Trudeau said.

The prime minister said gun violence is a “complex issue” that involves underlying issues such as mental health, poverty, and gender-based violence.

“Gun violence is something we must fight on many different fronts across the country. One of the most important fronts is prevention, education, and awareness,” he said. “Every effort counts. It’s not just the work that police and governments do. It’s about education in our communities. It’s about awareness and prevention.”

The announcement comes following the Liberals’ gun control Bill C-21 passing the House of Commons on May 24. The legislation seeks to enact a ban on so-called “assault-style” firearms, increase penalties for firearms trafficking, introduce measures to curb homemade “ghost guns,” and cement restrictions on handguns into law.

The Conservatives oppose Bill C-21, claiming it penalizes Canada’s 2.3 million firearm owners rather than tackling gun crime, and that the government should instead focus on bail reform and stopping illegal guns from being smuggled across the Canada-U.S. border.

The Conservatives and NDP were also against two amendments the Liberals attempted to add to the bill in November 2021, which would have constituted a blanket ban on almost all types of semi-automatic firearms, including many used for hunting by indigenous communities.

Trudeau accused Conservative MPs of standing with Canada’s gun lobby by refusing to support the government’s gun control bills. “Let’s be honest here. Conservative politicians spend a lot of time stoking fear around violent crime, but they have consistently stood against measures to ensure less crime and fewer victims,” he said.

Tracy Wilson, vice-president of public relations at the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, told The Epoch Times that if the Liberals were “serious” about decreasing gun violence, they would repeal Bills C-5 and C-75, the “soft-on crime bills that reduced sentencing for some very serious firearm crimes.”

Bill C-5 removed mandatory minimum penalties for 14 criminal offences in order to “reduce systemic racism in Canada’s criminal justice system,” the government said, while C-75 clarified bail provisions to emphasize that a person accused of a crime should be released at the earliest opportunity, with the least onerous considerations, where it was possible to do so.

“[If] they would invest the billions they’ll spend on gun bans on at-risk youth diversion and community programs, [or if] they would do something, anything, to reduce the flow of illicit weapons across our border into the hands of violent, repeat offenders. Instead, they’ve done the very least they could—a proclamation,” Wilson said.