Dear C3RF members,
You may recall my In Hot interview in June of last year with Christine Generoux concerning her court challenge of the government’s “gun grab.” In 2020 the government decided by an order-in-council (i.e., no discussion in Parliament) to seize from Canadians a wide range of firearms that had heretofore been legal for hunting and sports shooting. There was no rational reason to do this. Very few gun crimes are committed by legal gun owners in Canada. Most crime guns are smuggled in from the United States.
Christine and several other parties – individuals and organizations – launched a court challenge. Christine represented herself, her hunting partner John Perocchio and his son Vincent. It was clear early on that the government was not acting in good faith and did everything it could to make the process more costly and complex while using “Cabinet confidentiality” to block evidence. In addition, the Court refused to recognize the applicants as “public interest litigants,” even though the outcome of the case would affect the rights of millions of gun-owning Canadians. Being public interest litigants would make the applicants not liable for costs should they lose.
Unfortunately but predictably, the litigants got the bad news in October 2023 that the Federal Court had ruled against them on every front and the Crown sued them for costs at an astronomical $150,000. This was challenged with documentation and Christine recently received a notice from the Crown that she and her co-applicants had to pay $23,500 within 60 days or the government would begin receivership, garnisheeing, and bankruptcy processes against them to execute the payment. Failure to pay costs could cause Christine’s co-applicant John to lose his mortgaged home and Christine to have her wages garnisheed. The intention on the part of the government is to remind its citizens not to challenge it or they will be crushed.
Christine plans to appeal this ruling to a higher court but wants to have the payment ready should they ultimately have to pay. She has only about $7000 left from her previous fundraising and therefore must raise about $16,500. She’s provided an update about recent developments on her GoFundMe account (scroll down to Update 17 on July 13, 2024, here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/q8pv6c-overturn-the-unconstitutional-goc-gun-grab-2020) and she also set up a GiveSendGo account for people who are not keen to support anyone by GoFundMe (we all know the reasons): https://www.givesendgo.com/CFDF. You can also make a donation to Christine through us at C3RF, but please make sure to indicate clearly that it is for Christine’s gun case.
The relevance of the government’s “gun grab” is not limited to gun owners. This government has demonstrated an inclination to engage in overreach in many aspects of its citizens’ lives: what they can say (e.g., Online Harms Act), what they must inject into their bodies and now, what they can own. It would be unwise to think that the government will stop after it has “grabbed the guns” to “keep us safe.”
Christine and her allies have held the government at bay for four years. It has not yet seized any of the firearms that it has declared illegal although it has done everything it can to harass and intimidate the litigants. If you think this is a cause you would like to support, please donate to Christine though one of the avenues mentioned above.
And thank you for fighting for a strong and free Canada!
Major Russ Cooper (Ret’d)
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