Yukon Party Leader and MLA Currie Dixon is pledging territorial legislation to stop the “ideologically driven, performative, and ineffective policy and legislative agenda” that Canadians have come to expect from the Liberals in the war on legal firearm ownership.
Dixon addressed a letter to Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney urging him, or whoever forms the next federal government, to take actions that target criminals, gangs, and illegal weapons instead of attacking law-abiding firearms owners and seizing private property.
The vast majority of firearms used in crimes in Canada are smuggled into the country from the United States. A recent firearms bust in Peel consisted of 97 per cent of illegal guns imported from the U.S.
Dixon said that former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s time in office made things difficult for law-abiding gun owners in the Yukon, where legal firearm ownership is a way of life for many.
“This means that here in the Yukon, hunters, trappers, and other firearms owners who have done nothing wrong are at risk of losing private property they acquired legally. For First Nations citizens with constitutionally protected subsistence hunting rights, this could present additional challenges, potentially leading to costly legal battles,” said Dixon. “This proposed trampling of private property rights is unacceptable.”
The Liberals previously threw an additional $597.9 million over three years in taxpayer funds at the gun confiscation program, despite still not collecting a single firearm.
Dixon pledged to take action against the Liberals’ war on guns.
Despite currently serving as Leader of the Opposition, Dixon promised that if elected in the upcoming territorial election, a Yukon Party government will implement territorial legislation to block the federal confiscation program.
The Yukon Party would create a Yukon Firearms Act to stop the federal confiscation program by essentially making licenses required to carry out firearm seizures impossible to attain.
Dixon said his actions mirror those previously taken in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith amended the Alberta Bill of Rights to further protect legal firearm owners in the province by strengthening property rights.
Under Canada’s Constitution, criminal law—including firearms regulation—falls under federal jurisdiction. Although Alberta can legislate on property and civil rights, which includes some aspects of firearms ownership, the federal government holds the power to enforce laws that protect public safety.
Saskatchewan similarly introduced the Firearms Act in 2022 to complicate the federal buyback process by introducing strict firearm transportation regulations.
Further legislation would be implemented to prohibit RCMP officers under contract with the territorial government from participating in federal firearm confiscation programs.
Despite outlining measures to shield the territory from federal overreach, Dixon said there is another way.
“We would rather the federal government took evidence-based actions to address organized crime and gun violence, rather than forcing provincial and territorial governments to protect our citizens against federal overreach and attacks on innocent Canadians’ property rights,” said Dixon.
On top of urging the federal government to abandon what he deemed the Trudeau Liberals’ “draconian and ineffective approach,” Dixon also took aim at the country’s revolving-door bail system that has seen violent and repeat offenders released back on the streets repeatedly.
Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers previously wrote a letter to Trudeau, urging him to revisit bail reform after a B.C. resident was murdered by a man released on bail.
The federal government said it was up to the provinces to fix the catch-and-release crime issues caused by the bail system.
Dixon reiterated the call that bail reform was needed urgently.
“Yukoners want and deserve governments at both federal and territorial levels that will stand up for them, and their private property. Rather than focusing on ideologically-driven policies that make life for responsible gun owners more difficult and do nothing to combat crime, they want to see real action to crack down on actual criminals and gangs, and reform the catch-and-release bail system,” concluded Dixon.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre previously pledged to reverse all of Trudeau’s laws attacking legal gun owners.
Dixon’s letter was penned the day after Carney called the federal election, which will take place on April 28, 2025.