Public Safety Committee on Dec. 1st, 2022

[Murray Smith]

Yes, but—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

That would mean that G-4 means every semi-automatic rifle in this country with a centrefire cartridge is now illegal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Calkins, please let the witness answer.

[Murray Smith]

No, I would not agree with that, because the magazine capacity is not linked—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Could it just, then—

[Murray Smith]

—to the classification of the firearm.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

It's a friendly conversation, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

I understand, but we're not hearing the answers that the witness is giving.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

I encourage lively debate, but I would like to hear the answers.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

That's fair. Thank you, Chair.

[Murray Smith]

Under the present law, magazines and firearms are classified independently. We have magazine regulations that determine which magazines are lawful and which are not. We also have—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

I understand that, Mr. Smith. You're right. I agree with you. I'm not disputing that, but the evergreening clause in G-4 actually doesn't speak to magazines; it speaks to the rifle and if the rifle is capable.

[Murray Smith]

That's correct. That would be a change in the way things operate with respect to that particular provision—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Yes, that's a big change, Mr. Smith. I agree with you.

[Murray Smith]

For firearms to meet the criteria of that definition, the firearm in question must be a rifle or a shotgun, must be semi-automatic, must have a detachable magazine, and the capacity of that magazine must exceed five shots—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

No, that's not what the law says, Mr. Smith. I doesn't say that the magazine has to have more.... It says it's capable of receiving a magazine that contains more than five. That is a capability issue, not a definition of how many shots are legal in a magazine. Would you agree with that?

[Murray Smith]

Yes, I would.

You are correct in that assessment. If the firearm is capable of accepting a magazine that exceeds five shots, then it would fall into the prohibited category. That's limited somewhat by language that—

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Do you need a licence to buy a magazine—

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Go ahead, Mr. Noormohamed, on a point of order.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

The witness was literally in the middle of explaining what the caveat was and Mr. Calkins cut him off. Can we please have the witness finish the answer so that we can hear what he was trying say?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Go ahead, Mr. Motz, on the same point of order.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Can we please stop the government across the way from interrupting our questioning—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

That's not the same point of order.

I would certainly appreciate the witness being able to finish his answers.