Special Report –
July 1, 2020
Public Interest Litigants Judicial Review of SOR/2020-96 Notice of Application Filed
in Federal Court
Yesterday, June 29, 2020, Toronto lawyer Arkadi Bouchelev filed a notice of application for judicial review of the Order in Council (OIC) creating regulation SOR/2020-96 in the Federal Court on behalf of nine public interest litigants from across Canada.
These are private firearm owners, not firearm business owners whose livelihoods are threatened as a result of this ban, and they are bringing this litigation forward as public interest litigants. In other words, they’re challenging this Order in Council for the public good.
They want to overturn SOR/2020-96 and, if they are successful, will benefit every lawful Canadian firearm owner who owns one of the 1,500 types of firearms banned on May 1, 2020, or would like to own one in the future.
One of the key arguments that Mr. Bouchelev’s clients are making relates to Section 117.15(2) of the
Criminal Code
, which very specifically states that if a government intends to ban firearms by way of an Order in Council, they can only do it for firearms that have no reasonable use for hunting or sporting purposes.
If a firearm is reasonable for use to hunt or target shoot in Canada, the government cannot ban it through an OIC. They must enact a new piece of legislation.
Every firearm on the OIC list is reasonable for use for hunting, sporting purposes, or both.
The Public Interest Litigants also argue that the RCMP has no legal authority to reclassify firearms by changing their FRT status. That legal authority rests in the federal government and cannot be delegated to the RCMP.
The CSSA believes the Public Interest Litigants Judicial Review has an excellent chance to challenge and defeat the Liberal government’s firearm ban by Order in Council enacted on May 1st, 2020.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tony Bernardo, Executive Director
Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Phone: 905-571-2150
Email: abernardo343@rogers.com
