Thank you for the question.
Our goal has remained the same since I appeared before this committee last year and for the past two years.
We believe that assault weapons should be automatically bought back. We should not rely on the goodwill of the people who own them.
All firearms must be removed from our society, starting with assault weapons—we all agree on that—but also handguns. We cannot make a distinction between illegal and legal weapons. These are weapons that kill people.
We ask that everyone, not only the government, but also all members of Parliament, all senators and all people of good will, work together to eradicate these weapons from our territory. We want to be a non-violent people and a people who abhor the flow of these weapons that kill people. That is what we want.
We have chosen to support the assault weapons ban. We know that, following an order issued in 2020, a letter is circulating to inform gun owners. It's not perfect, but it's really not bad.
When we told our community that the regulation of assault weapons is now a bit better, people were still pleased with it, but they would have liked regulations to go further, for the government to make the weapons buy-back mandatory.
As you know, six fathers were killed in our mosque. They were starting their new lives in Canada, and they had done extraordinary good for society. Of the five injured, one is now in a wheelchair. He can't even play with his children or work normally. As for the other four survivors, their lives were turned upside down by a handgun, a weapon that kills people. This is not a toy for scaring them.
The killer had five magazines: five times 10 bullets, and another five bullets. He fired 48 bullets, killing six people and wounding five others. He caused as much damage to the public. These weapons should not be in circulation. We do not want these weapons to circulate, just as assault weapons should not be in circulation.