Ready To Tear Up Your Canadian Passport?
Well get ready, because unless someone can stop this runaway train, soon, you will wake up one day and have no choice.
It's amazing to behold how thoroughly the Saskatchewan Legislature has been appropriated by the Sask Party.
The amount of Saskatchewan taxpayer-funded public services and servants being used to create some of the latest government policy and/or legislation for our province is staggering.
You’d think politicians and public servants doing their job would be a good thing, right?
The majority of the Sask Party's recent output in the provincial Legislature are irrelevant and non-applicable to the day-to-day life of Saskatchewan people.
There is seemingly no effort to veil the fact that these bills, passed with pompous, self-congratulatory gusto by the Sask Party, have no basis in reality. They serve no purpose in the life of an average Saskatchewan family just trying to get by, nevermind live as comfortably as Scooter, his MLAs and their besties.
The average Saskatchewan family doesn’t even cross this government’s mind anymore, when planning what ditch to drive Saskatchewan into next new laws, regulations and policy. It’s got to the point that public resources are being poured into creating and passing unquestionably pro-Sask Party political bills with the government’s and Scott Moe’s caucus’s full knowledge that those bills are unconstitutional and unenforceable.
Consider this back and forth between Nicole Sauerer and Christine Tell in an April 5, 2023 Intergovernmental Affairs and Justice Committee meeting to review Bill No. 117 — The Saskatchewan Firearms Act, which came into force, sort of, last month on May 19th.
In the meeting, Tell was immediately foaming at the mouth about the federal government and its firearm buyback program - or “large-scale firearm theft”- as she has so graciously dubbed it, of what are now newly-prohibited firearms under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Do you appreciate how much the Sask Party is projecting when they warn against the nefarious intentions of other governments?
We’ll come back to that.
To be clear, the federal buyback program hasn’t been managed properly. It was deemed necessary in May 2020 after the Trudeau government banned 1,500 makes and models of military-grade, or assault weapons. The Liberals campaigned on gun control in 2019’s federal election, which they won, much to the delight of the Sask Party.
Because every hero needs a villain, right?
The amnesty period for Canadians to turn in and be compensated for their now-illegal guns was originally April 2022, but because Marco Mendicino and the federal Public Safety agency couldn’t get their act together, the amnesty was extended until October 2023. Given the level of disorganization still today, that date will likely be extended again.
Neither the number of guns to be turned in nor how much the buyback program will cost is known. In June of 2021 the federal Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimated the cost could be as high as $756-million, based on the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association’s projection of 518,000 eligible guns. The federal government’s projection is only 150,000 guns and $225-million.
Whatever the number, 11,000 of the guns waiting for buyback are new, waiting in the backroom inventory of Canadian gun retailers for the feds to make an offer.
I’m not here today to weigh in on gun control, but I’ll tell you what I think anyway:
the federal government should not be banning any firearm connected to hunting or other legitimate, recreational or sporting activities;
nobody outside of the military really needs a military-grade weapon. Or an assault rifle, automatic firearm - whatever. If it’s made for the main purpose of killing other human beings quickly and efficiently, you really don’t need one, do you? I know you might want one. I want chickens in my backyard and can’t have those either. And really, I don’t need chickens in my backyard.
I’m sure that take will fuel some outrage, but again, it’s not the reason we’re here.
We’re here because Christine Tell holds power over your freedom (as much as I’m loathed to use that word anymore, it’s the truth) and to me, she seems genuinely detached from reality. Seriously. Everything about her is just… off.
You should reasonably be able to live your life in Saskatchewan without fear of being incarcerated for political reasons, but I truly don’t believe you can while that lunatic holds the keys to your future jail cell.
Here’s why Tell said the Sask Firearms Act is necessary.
“That’s weird,” I thought. You’d think that would be bigger news.
It’s not, however, because to the surprise of no one it’s not true.
The first tender on the federal buyback program was issued in 2020 and was limited to only 15 companies.
You’ll note the title of that tender is “Compensation Model and Program Design Options for a Potential Buyback Program for Recently Prohibited Firearms”. The feds were not soliciting agents to use a battering rams on Saskatchewan doors to commit her made-up “large-scale firearm theft”. There’s never been a federal tender issued for, as Tell put it, “the job of taking away people’s firearms”.
It all begs the question - is Tell willfully or genuinely ignorant of her file?
While it’s true that it took a couple false starts, by 2021 the feds had awarded the contract to IBM.
So where did Tell get her story from?
The only place I can find the narrative that no private industry corporation wanted to participate in the buyback program, therefore it will be left to law enforcement to handle, is on the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) website.
Specifically, the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), which describes itself as “the lobbying arm of the NRA”.
Researching this piece it became abundantly apparent that Tell is getting almost all her talking points on this buyback program from the NRA. That might be fine if American law and the Second Amendment had any bearing on any of this. However, we’ve already established I believe Christine Tell is not only blackout-drunk on power, she’s not connected to reality.
Here’s another example from that meeting.
Again Tell repeats the falsehood that the Canadian government is “taking away firearms from legal firearms owners”.
That is not true.
It doesn’t matter if she agrees with the law, or if anyone does for that matter, Tell’s statement is factually incorrect. As I already stated, we are in an amnesty period for gun owners who if they don’t participate, will find themselves in possession of what is now a banned firearm in Canada. Should those owners choose not to remit their newly outlawed weapons before the amnesty ends, they will become gun owners in contravention of the Criminal Code of Canada, which is the opposite of “legal firearms owners”.
Even the premier is pushing this lie, through taxpayer-backed communication channels like his social media accounts.
Did you know that like these newly-banned guns, sedition is also a section of the Criminal Code of Canada?
The Criminal Code doesn’t define sedition, but the Supreme of Canada (SCC) has defined it as any practice,
"whether by word, deed or in writing - calculated to disturb the tranquillity of the State, and lead ignorant persons to endeavour to subvert the Government and the laws of the empire." - Supreme Court of Canada, Boucher v. the King, 1950 CanLII 2 (SCC), [1951] SCR 265
I’m not going to expand on that right now either, but for now, just be aware of that definition as we continue this discussion. Before you ask, no, provincial governments or politicians are not exempt from that law.
Here’s another exchange from that meeting that made me shake my head.
‘I’m a government lawyer, so I don’t actually do lawyer stuff, you know, so we think it’s legal… buuuuut we know it will go to court.’ - Government of Saskatchewan lawyers, probably.
The Sask Party’s bucket of tax dollars for fighting unwinnable Supreme Court challenges leveled against the rest of Canada has no bottom. They’ll keep pillaging and spending millions on this bullshit, while enriching some of their top donors - Saskatchewan law firms - as long as they can.
Neil Karkut is listed in the provincial government’s directory as senior Crown Counsel for the Ministry of Justice. According to Public Accounts, Neil earned $144,000 of your tax dollars in 2021-22.
But that’s the best he could come up with for an answer?
Unbelievable.
Just when I thought this couldn’t get any worse, Saskatchewan Chief Firearms Officer Robert Freberg enters the picture.
As part of the research for this piece I have talked to stakeholders in the Sask Party’s gun game. People who were consulted, whose input was requested then ignored and people who had their perspectives on the Firearms Act openly disregarded.
Much like for Christine Tell, I couldn’t find a soul who respects Robert Freberg. He is perceived as an overly-aggressive, staunchly-conservative partisan with his head lodged firmly up Christine Tell and Scott Moe’s asses. People who’ve worked with him say that behind closed doors he has no problem slagging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal federal government.
In other words, Saskatchewan taxpayers pay Freberg to work for the Sask Party.
You knew that already though, didn’t you. These overtly political, unethical and until recently, scandalous government appointments are now just a part of how things work. Nary a headline on any of it, ever.
But I digress.
Freberg flanked Christine Tell in that April 25, 2023 committee meeting. His answer on the question of what happens after the Canadian government’s amnesty period is up in October is astonishing:
Put another way:
‘I think, you know, if the Prime Minister does the thing the Sask Party government spent wads of taxpayers cash on creating legislation to try to stop, well, you know (mutters under his breath:) thosepeoplewillbecomecriminals … but Turdeau probably won’t even do the thing so who knows?
It’s really just been more of a suggestion so far anyway.
- Saskatchewan Chief Firearms Officer, probably
The Sask Party’s Chief Firearms Officer said the quiet part out loud. I have a feeling he does that alot.
Despite the fact the provincial government took the drastic step of passing unprecedentedly political, unconstitutional legislation under the guise of defending Saskatchewan people from their country’s government… they don’t actually believe anything is going to happen anyway.
Except it’s already happened.
These people are 👏🏻 not👏🏻operating👏🏻 in👏🏻reality.
This was another gem of an exchange between Sarauer and Freberg:
First of all, did the Sask Party write Sarauer’s question? John Gormley? Cause what a gift that was. Well done Nicole, Scott Moe thanks you for your service.
Yet even with that softball, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed an old white Saskatchewan man turn a question about domestic violence into an answer about himself as neatly as Freberg did that day. Even after that rant he still doesn’t answer the question, instead rambling on about education on gun safety, La Loche and gun storage.
They’re not operating in reality.
So in the event that federal law remains federal law and the amnesty period expires as scheduled, how does this genius legislation purport to save all these victimized legal Saskatchewan gun owners from theft from the Canadian government?
I’m going to tell you that in the next post.
This is what I want you to think about in the meantime.
Are you Canadian or not?
That is where this train is headed.
For your citizenship.
I’ll get into it more in the next post when I get into the constitutionality of the firearms legislation, Sask First Act and a bunch more actions that the Sask Party government is taking to actively separate Saskatchewan from Canada.
The Sask Party government and Scott Moe are not planning on asking you if Saskatchewan should exit Canada. They’re not even planning on separating Saskatchewan from Canada.
No, they’re not planning - because the Sask Party government is already actively separating Saskatchewan from Canada.
That train has left the station and we’re all on it whether we like it or not. Our provincial government is now deliberately passing Acts they know are unconstitutional, or will be challenged as such, if they were ever acted upon.
Are we Canadian or not?
Do you believe that Canada is going to ignore or alter its constitution for Saskatchewan or Scott Moe?
Do you no longer believe in the Canadian Constitution Act?
Are you Canadian or not?
We can’t have it both ways not matter how hard Scott Moe stomps his feet.
Keeping in mind that constitutional law is always evolving, as it should, I strongly recommend reading The Distribution of Legislative Powers: An Overview written by researchers with the Canadian Library of Parliament in Ottawa.
Or you could just read chapter VI, sections 91-95 of the Canadian Constitution Act itself: Distribution of Legislative Powers.
Bottom line is the federal government of Canada, under section 91(27) of the Act, has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters relating to criminal law, including the Criminal Code of Canada.
This absolutely includes guns.
The Sask Party will not be taking that one to the Supreme Court, because it has already confirmed that the federal Firearms Act is a valid exercise of Parliament’s power.
You think Scooter Moe knows better than the Supreme Court of Canada?
Are you Canadian or not?
Section 92(14) of the Constitution Act gives the provinces jurisdiction over the “Administration of Justice in the Province.”
Control over the administration of justice when federal laws are broken, not the determination of whether those federal laws are just.
That’s why the Ministry of Justice is responsible for Crown prosecutors and operates the Court of King’s Bench, where Criminal Code charges are judged. In fact, the Constitution expressly states that the provinces, not the federal government, operate criminal courts.
There is plenty of evidence that by acting like grown-ups instead of petulant children, the Canadian government is willing to work with the provinces on levels of power. For example, British Columbia was able to “decriminalize” drugs not by changing any federal laws, but because Health Canada granted that province a three-year exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. That, combined with the fact the province is responsible for the administration of justice in the province, allows BC to provide addicts caught with a small to moderate amount of drugs like crack or meth supports, not jail time.
The Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted section 92(14) as also giving provinces authority over provincial, AKA municipal, police forces. That’s why some provinces have provincial police forces and others have municipal. Saskatchewan has a blend of municipal and RCMP, with the RCMP under contract with the Government of Saskatchewan to provide services in rural areas.
The Constitution does not, however, give the provinces authority to change or alter any aspect of the Criminal Code or any other federal criminal laws, including the federal Firearms Act. It also does not allow the provinces to forbid police from enforcing any aspect of the Criminal Code.
That is exactly what the Saskatchewan Firearms Act sets out to do.
In fact, if the Sask Party continues down this road, the one where they are fully restricting Saskatchewan residents from complying with federal criminal laws, it will create a cohort of criminals under federal law after the amnesty period is up. Municipal police will have no choice but to enforce the federal law and neither will Saskatchewan prosecutors.
Unless what Saskatchewan and its government is doing is declaring itself exempt from the portions of the Canadian Constitution and rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Are you Canadian or not?
Because mark my words, the current train ride the Sask Party has piled us all on will crash. At that point you will be forced to decide whether you’re Canadian… or not.
Decide who will rescue you from the smoking rubble.
Or not.
This is not a maybe or might scenario.
Left unchecked, you will need to decide where you want to live, who you want governing the rest of your life and how.
That is the choice Scott Moe is forcing on all of us.
It’s going to be him or your rights, heritage and nationality as a Canadian.
To be continued in the next post…
