Bill C-68 ­ Region 6 (Swift Current)

Response:

Minister of Justice: As you know, the Government of Saskatchewan has already taken the following significant steps to make the Province's opposition to the Firearms Act known to the Federal Government:

• When the Firearms Act was first under consideration in Parliament, an all-party delegation went to Ottawa to express Saskatchewan's opposition to the Bill.
• In 1996, the Government of Saskatchewan advised the Federal Government that we would not participate in the administration of the new firearms licensing and registration systems.
• We joined the Alberta constitutional challenge to the Firearms Act, at both the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Most recently, after the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Firearms Act, the Government indicated that provincial prosecutors would not be involved in prosecutions under the Firearms Act.

These are all steps which are open to the provincial government to take.  However, the rights guaranteed by the Charter are individual in nature, and their application will depend heavily on the facts of a particular case.  The Government's position is that Charter-based challenges are best brought by individuals, who can assert their own rights, rather than by the Government.  In fact, some cases the courts have held that one individual cannot rely on another person's Charter rights.  That principle may apply with even greater force in one government tried to challenge another government's actions, based on the rights of individuals who are not part of the court action.