LILLEY UNLEASHED: Ontario joins lawsuit against Carney's gun grab

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]A Canadian politician saying don't give up your guns. What's up with that? Hi, I'm Brian Lily, political columnist for the Toronto Sun. You may have noted the other day that Ontario Premier Doug Ford suddenly blurted something out that didn't make sense to an awful lot of reporters covering his event in Sue St. Marie, Ontario. Here it is.

[00:00:18]>> Gun owners, protect your guns. Simple as that. Don't Don't ever give them away.

[00:00:24]>> That was Ford going on a very short rant after a longer rant about a crazy court decision. But that's a story for another day. Why was Ford saying, "Don't give up your guns ever," while standing next to Mark Carney's industry minister, Melanie Jolie, who quite frankly looked a gasast. Uh, well, because his government decided last week that they were going to join a court challenge on the Carne Liberal government's so-called gun buyback program. Here to talk with me about all of this is Tracy Wilson. She is with the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, the group behind this court challenge, which is going to the Supreme Court. Uh Tracy, uh probably uh welcome, if surprising words from Premier Doug Ford.

[00:01:08]>> Thanks, Brian. I'm happy to be here.

[00:01:10]Well, I mean, I think Doug Ford is a very skilled politician and he recognizes that there is political value in supporting gun owners. the tides have really changed over the last 10 years.

[00:01:22]So, I wasn't overly surprised to hear Doug uh kind of go off the rails like he sometimes does. Uh but it was >> in a very good way. Off the rails in a very good way.

[00:01:33]>> Very good way. And it was especially meaningful standing there beside Melanie Jolie. So, I think it sends a very loud and clear message to Mark Carney's government that Ontario stands with their citizens and not with the feds on this issue. So, give me the the 30 secondond elevator pitch. What is this court challenge about? How are you trying to get the court to say, what is your argument for having the court agreeing with you or saying that this gun buyback program is unconstitutional?

[00:02:05]>> Well, there's a whole bunch of elements to this case, but in plain language, we we have a couple of questions that we want answered. And the first one is, can the government step into your life despite you doing nothing wrong? and deem your stuff illegal that you've owned safely and without issue for decades and come and confiscate it by force. And I think all Canadians need an answer to that question. And then the other question is normally when things like this are done, it goes through a regular parliamentary process where an MP will present a bill or the government will present a bill. It will be debated on the floor of the House of Commons. It will be sent to committee for study.

[00:02:44]They'll hear from expert witnesses and then of course that entire process is repeated in the Senate. But the most important element is it's voted on. This gun grab was done by a minority Trudeau government uh with no support from anybody else. Law enforcement has come out against it. The provinces have come out against it. And at this point, >> if I can if I can interrupt for a second, Tracy, they originally did this with what's called an ordering council, >> right? which is the Canadian equivalent of those executive orders that Donald Trump signs in the White House and then holds up. It is a an executive order.

[00:03:23]That's what it equates to. It's cabinet saying, "We decree this. It's not going through Parliament."

[00:03:29]>> Yeah, that's exactly right. And I mean, Canada is a proud democratic country. We have a process in place to make things fair and equal for all Canadians. And they just completely circumvented that.

[00:03:41]And they said to a vote by doing >> No, it never went to a vote. It was just a done deal and that's it. It was very it was a Trumpian maneuver on behalf of Justin Trudeau. And I, you know, I I know Mark Harney inherited this. It's not his mess, but he has yet to do the right thing and overturn it. So, we have no choice but to take him all the way to the Supreme Court.

[00:04:04]>> So, I want to read uh the statement that the Ford government through their solicitor general, Michael Kernner, shared with me. uh earlier. It says, "The federal government's gun buyback program has done nothing to address the root causes of gun violence in our communities. We share the concerns raised by the Ontario Provincial Police, OP, on the federal government's approach to the gun buyback program. Local police resources should be focused on combating crime and keeping communities safe, not attending residential addresses, and confiscating firearms that were previously lawful but are now prohibited. Guns illegally smuggled into Canada continue to fuel local crime and we need the federal government to step up and take control of our borders. Uh I I'm guessing that you would be in 100% agreement with that statement.

[00:04:54]>> Of course. And I mean despite being a gun owner and no I don't want my stuff taken. I'm a mom and I'm a grandma. I want to save for community too. And I know that law enforcement is doing the best they can. and they're already stretched thin. And to take those very precious resources off the streets where they're fighting crime, where they're arresting bad guys, where they're investigating crimes, and instead focus on people who have obeyed every law and every regulation despite how ridiculous they are, that is going to cause an even larger increase in violent crimes across our communities and not enough law enforcement to manage it. So that's why I think we've seen law enforcement across the country come out and oppose this.

[00:05:37]>> You spoke a couple of words there that I want to go back to. You said you're a mother and a grandmother. Um >> the Trudeau Liberals really dug into appealing to suburban mothers.

[00:05:51]That was their focus in selling this measure and claiming that it was something to do with gun safety. Right.

[00:06:00]>> As someone who is a mom and a grandmom, just like the folks that Trudeau was appealing to, what would you say to them? Because everyone's concerned about gun safety, but there's a lot of people who don't know what you, as a gun owner, have to go through to get a gun. So, you know, take a moment to explain to them why you're not the problem, why you owning a gun or me owning a gun is not the issue with the crime that we all want off of our streets.

[00:06:29]Well, it's actually a pretty easy debate because we've got 10 years of evidence now and the results are in. This is 10 years of Liberal uh public safety policy and it's been a tragic and bloody failure. Um Canada has never been more violent than it is now. They have targeted the completely wrong people and I think most Canadians know that. But the very best way to influence somebody's opinions about guns and gun ownership is to take them to the range.

[00:06:56]And this is a perfect time for this interview because June 6th, the first Saturday in June every year is National Range Day. And you can go to nationalar range.ca.

[00:07:06]Give it a try. Just, you know, put yourself out there. Come out to one of these events. You can get some uh one-on-one tutoring. Come out, try the shooting sports, see what it's about, see the safety protocols that are in place. And then ask yourself, are are these the people we need to be targeting or should we be focused on violence, crime, and smuggling? And I think everybody knows the answer to that question.

[00:07:31]>> Yeah. Is just a couple of weeks ago uh there was um uh three guys arrested in the United States. I'm sure you saw this one. Uh I believe 89 firearms that they were trying to smuggle back into Canada.

[00:07:44]One of the guys who was trying to do this was a non-citizen uh who had skipped out on an ankle bracelet and a sentencing hearing. Um someone in who in my view should be deported. A and yet it was only because the Americans grabbed him that we know that this exists. In fact, I I believe he had uh fake ID. I can't remember if it was a fake driver's license or a fake passport hidden in his buttocks um when he was arrested. Uh these are the people that need to be targeted by Canadian law enforcement, not you, not me.

[00:08:20]>> Yeah, that's right. The number of lives that were saved just with that one bust is immeasurable because for every firearm that ends up in the hands of these these gang bangers and criminals on the streets, I mean, they get passed around, you know, used in a a a gang shooting in Saskatchewan, and next thing you know, it's in Toronto, then it's out in BC. You know, they're passed around, they're shipped around, and they legitimately cost the lives of good Canadians that don't deserve it. And this um this bust in particular was wild to me. There are there are people we don't need in this country. And if you're going to come to Canada, then you got to follow the rules, live a good life. It's a beautiful country. We welcome people here. But if you're going to come here and take advantage of the softon crime liberal policies, then you know, we're going to have to take a hard look at that. I mean, the the original crime that the man allegedly trying to import the guns into Canada, it involved a couple of illegal guns um that were were found after he was involved in a uh motor vehicle accident that killed somebody. So, I you know, we've got people that are flagrantly violating the laws and not being treated as harshly as legal, law-abiding, vetted gun owners.

[00:09:39]Tracy, thanks so much for the time today. keep us updated on how this Supreme Court challenge goes. Well, just actually before I let you go, what's the timeline on this? I understand everyone has to have their paperwork in by September. When do you think the case will be heard?

[00:09:54]>> Well, this all depends on the court's uh calendar, the complexity of the case, the number of interveners, and the backlog. Uh but we expect to have a hearing somewhere between January and March of 2027, which of course goes out past the amnesty that protects gun owners. So we'll be filing an injunction for that first actually in the coming days um to protect gun owners. But yeah, this fight is not over yet and hopefully by mid-inter, early spring, we'll have this thing overturned and we can all go back to normal and focus on crime instead.

[00:10:28]>> Okay. And where can folks find out more about you and your organization? What's the website?

[00:10:33]>> You can find us at ccfr.ca.

[00:10:37]>> All right, Tracy Wilson, thanks again.

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