Interim RCMP commissioner would support Criminal Code changes for stricter gun laws

Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.

Duheme — who took over the RCMP’s top job earlier this month — told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, he is in favour of legislative changes for stricter gun measures that would be geared at improving safety for law enforcement and citizens.

“Any amendment to the Criminal Code that makes it safer for us to operate, and for the population, I think that’s always a really good thing,” he said. “And I would be very supportive of that.”

While Duheme said that as of Friday he hadn’t yet read the 3,000-page Mass Casualty Commission report in its entirety, he said he’s “committed to going through the entire document,” and principle supports the legislative changes recommended in it.

The Mass Casualty Commission makes 130 recommendations, many of them detailing the need for RCMP reform, as well as listing a series of “failures” by law enforcement, after a more than two-year examination of the worst mass shooting in Canadian history, which left 22 people dead in April 2020.

Duheme said he is working through the report, starting with the section dedicated to policing and the need for “significant changes” to the RCMP.

“I’m also committed to make sure that all the recommendations that are there, that we follow up on them, that we show progress on the recommendations, and that the general public can follow the progress of the recommendation, the work we’re doing,” he said. “That to me is building trust … on the accountability side with Nova Scotians and Canadians.”

When asked about specific recommendations, particularly those related to “reducing access to the most dangerous, high-capacity firearms and ammunition,” Duheme said he agrees in principle.

The report suggests several Criminal Code changes, including to prohibit specific semi-automatic handguns and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, and to limit the size of firearms’ magazines.

“I have not read that specific recommendation, but any measures that would be brought forward to ensure that the public safety is safer, I am very supportive of,” Duheme said, when pressed on whether restrictions on people’s ability to access certain firearms or ammunition would lead to better outcomes.

The Liberals have committed in successive elections to move forward on gun control measures.

Shortly after the shootings in Nova Scotia in 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on 1,500 assault-style weapons, including weapons used by the perpetrator.

And, a Liberal proposal to further tighten gun laws to include “red flag” provisions and restrict legal access to handguns remains before Parliament, after a proposed amendment to enshrine in law a definition for “assault-style” weapons, became a point of contention.

Trudeau on Thursday thanked the commissioners for their work, and said his government would be reading the report to figure out next steps on the recommendations.

“We will take the time now to properly digest and understand the recommendations, and the conclusions, and the opportunities that the commission has put forward for us to take up,” he said. “There’s no question there need to be changes, and there will be, but we will take the time to get those right.”

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko and CTVNews.ca’s Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello