Ottawa’s Firearms Review Clock Needs Public Receipts

When government says it is waiting for expert advice, the public is entitled to see whether the expert process is real, timely and accountable.

Ottawa’s firearms file has a familiar accountability problem: ministers point to a process, but Canadians cannot see the clock, the roster or the deadline.

The Canadian Press reported October 21 that the Firearms Classification Technical Advisory Group, created to support a federal review that includes the SKS rifle, is expected to hold its first meeting this fall — almost a year after Ottawa announced the review. Public Safety Canada said the members were appointed to provide expert advice to the department and the RCMP, and that more information on the group and related engagement would be available “in the near term.” That is not a transparency plan. It is a placeholder.

This matters because Prime Minister Mark Carney has already pointed to professional and RCMP advice before making further decisions on firearms classification, including the SKS. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced in December 2025 that the review would take a broad look at the legal framework for firearms, devices, magazines and ammunition, with dedicated consultations with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, including on the SKS.

There are real tensions here. Public Safety Canada’s January 2026 release says Ottawa has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of assault-style firearms since May 2020 while opening the compensation program to individual owners. The SKS remains outside that ban. Gun-control group PolySeSouvient wants faster restrictions on SKS sales and circulation, with an exemption for Indigenous hunters who use older models for sustenance. The Canadian Shooting Sports Association argues key questions about recent shootings — including which firearms were used and how they were obtained — must be answered before another reclassification is treated as proof of prevention.

A responsible government should be able to handle both points at once: public safety deserves urgency, and lawful owners and Indigenous communities deserve evidence, consultation and clear rules. What does not deserve a pass is a black-box review used as a shield against hard questions.

So publish the firearms review clock. Release the advisory group roster, appointment dates, first-meeting date, mandate, conflict rules, evidence questions, Indigenous engagement plan, public-submission process and target date for recommendations. If Ottawa is waiting for expert advice, Canadians should know when that advice will be produced and what evidence it will consider.

Conservative accountability does not require pretending the file is simple. It requires refusing to let government hide behind complexity. On firearms classification, the Liberals owe Canadians receipts: not another vague promise that answers are coming “near term.”