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Group assisting long-planned review of firearms — including SKS — has yet to meet
Group assisting firearms review has yet to meet
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
An advisory group that's supporting a federal review of firearms classification — including a look at the SKS rifle — is expected to hold its first meeting this fall, almost a year after Ottawa announced the review.
Public Safety Canada says members of the Firearms Classification Technical Advisory Group, appointed to provide expert advice to the department and the RCMP, "will be meeting later this fall."
The Liberal government has faced fresh questions about the SKS after a document filed in a U.S. court said the killer in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting talked about having an SKS gun.
Eighteen-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people in the Feb. 10 Tumbler Ridge attack before taking her own life.
The RCMP has declined to release details about firearms used in the shootings, saying its investigation is ongoing.
The SKS has been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings.
It is also commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food.
Prime Minister Mark Carney recently indicated the government would look at the advice of the classification advisory group before making any decision on the status of the SKS.
Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed approximately 2,500 types of guns on the basis they belong only on the battlefield. It has not banned the SKS.
Gun control advocacy group PolySeSouvient has long called on the government to impose an immediate ban on new sales of the SKS, to remove from circulation modern, assault-style versions of the rifle, and to implement a voluntary buyback of older models. It calls for an exemption for Indigenous hunters who use the SKS primarily for sustenance.
In early December last year, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the government would "shortly be launching a comprehensive review of the firearms classification regime" with an emphasis on simplicity and consistency.
"This review will be supported by an expanded advisory group, and will involve dedicated consultations with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, including on the SKS, to ensure Indigenous perspectives and traditions are an active part of the process," he said in a statement.
"The review will take a broad view of the legal framework for firearms, devices, magazines and ammunition to modernize the regime and ensure Canadians' safety."
In response to questions this month from The Canadian Press, the Public Safety Department said more information on the Technical Advisory Group and on engagement activities related to the classification review will be made available "in the near term."
"Members will bring diverse technical knowledge, experience, and expert views from a wide range of perspectives," the department said.
PolySeSouvient said this week that instead of implementing a comprehensive ban on assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines, "the government keeps announcing new consultations and panels, and each one becomes another reason to postpone actual change."
"Lives are at stake," the group told The Canadian Press. "The government needs to stop consulting and start acting, before more people are killed in mass shootings."
In a recent commentary on its website, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association said many questions remain about the Tumbler Ridge shootings, including which firearms were used, how they were obtained, and which — if any — had been seized by police previously.
"Reclassifying another firearm before answering those questions may satisfy the demand for immediate action," the commentary said. "It does not prove that banning another firearm would have prevented this mass murder."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.
By Jim Bronskill | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Researcher who became sick after pesticide exposure asks government to follow science
Feds urged not to weaken oversight on pesticides
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Since he was a child, Gérald Chouinard knew he wanted to be a scientist. He fulfilled that dream for three decades, researching alternatives to pesticides in Quebec, until his work was cut short eight years ago.
Chouinard was in his mid-50s when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Three years later, in 2022, his diagnosis was recognized to be a work illness after exposure to pesticides.
“It’s a little ironic — that I worked to reduce risks related to pesticides and it made me ill,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview.
Now, he is petitioning the federal government to stop what he sees as a weakening of pesticide regulation and is asking them to follow the science.
Chouinard’s petition, which has over 13,500 signatures, is asking the governments to reverse what advocates describe as a trend to weaken oversight of the use of pesticides across the country. The petition takes aim at legislation they warn will weaken the federal Pest Control Products Act.
Bill C-30, which was passed in June 2026, amended the Act to allow cabinet to override Health Canada and authorize the use of banned pesticides in the interest of economic or national food security, or in response to “seriously detrimental infestation.” Bill C-31, which is under review, would eliminate mandatory reviews of the health and environmental risks of pesticides.
The petition asks the government to repeal the changes made by C-30 and remove those proposed by C-31.
Chouinard’s right hand trembled as he spoke to The Canadian Press on an October morning, detailing his research and the illness he developed as a result. Chouinard spent around three decades exposed to dozens of chemical pesticides.
“I was like most people, I was confident that the regulatory system was reliable, that it was good,” he said.
Chouinard no longer works, as his symptoms — which include difficulty sleeping, trembling and low energy — make it hard to keep a job, he said.
“But I stay active for a cause that’s important to me: to help people understand that pesticides are of course dangerous, but also that Canadian systems ensuring the safety of those products are important,” he said.
When he learned about the changes that bills C-30 and C-31 were bringing to pesticide regulation, he was stunned, he said.
“The Quebec government paid me a salary for 30 years for me to reduce pesticide use. And now, I’m seeing a bill that proposes a weakening of the (oversight) systems,” he said.
Around half of the products that Chouinard was exposed to before he developed Parkinson's disease were banned following the mandatory reviews of their environmental and health impacts. Those products could now return to the market through the override authorized by bill C-30.
“I’m a scientist, I think this process should be led by science. Not by lobbies, not by politics, by science,” he said.
Chouinard was in Ottawa on Tuesday to speak out against the changes to pesticide regulations. He joined a coalition that included Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Québécois MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas.
Health Minister Marjorie Michel dismissed concerns about the changes during question period in the House of Commons.
"I would say the health and safety of Canadians will always remain our top priority. But we can do this while supporting our agriculture sector and cutting red tape," she said.
Chouinard said industry professionals like him, who interact most closely with pesticides, will be the first impacted by lower oversight.
"We don't want our producers to be exposed to risks unnecessarily," he said.
In a press conference, May criticized the Carney government’s environmental policy and accused it of being “in the pocket of the pesticide lobby.”
“It's not too late for Canadians to rise up and ask this government, I'll be blunt, what the hell is going on here?” she said.
In an email to the Canadian Press, Health Department spokesperson Alexandre Bergeron said the government's proposed changes would allow federal officials to focus on the biggest risks.
“These changes will help reduce backlogs and ensure regulatory resources are focused on higher-risk products and emerging concerns, rather than automatically reviewing products simply because 15 years have passed,” wrote Bergeron.
Chouinard dismissed the idea that reducing reviews would help cut down on bureaucracy.
“We hear about reducing useless bureaucracy, but that is not what we’re looking at here. This is essential work,” he said.
— With files from Pierre St-Arnaud
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.
By Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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'Perfect storm': Extreme weather fuelled Wainwright military base fire, expert says
Extreme weather fuelled deadly Wainwright fire
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
A wildfire expert says powerful winds with shifting directions and dry weather contributed to rapid expansion of the fire at a military base in Wainwright, Alta., that left four soldiers dead and 39 others wounded.
Environment and Climate Change Canada had issued a severe weather alert for swaths of Alberta on Saturday, warning of powerful wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour in the region where the base is located, 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
The agency said a strong cold front also passed through the area at the time of the windstorm.
Jen Beverly, an associate professor of wildland fire at the University of Alberta, says that weather combination created a “perfect storm” for the deadly fire to spread at a staggering speed and engulf the military training ground.
Defence officials have said that 84 members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were in a training area when strong winds spread the flames from a nearby grass fire that was initially considered sufficiently under control.
The military said the fire burning about a kilometre away reached the training ground in less than one minute, and Beverly says that could be “the fastest recorded observation of wildfire spread in Canada” if confirmed after the investigation.
Beverly says people working near a wildland fire should have access to information about any severe weather conditions, including extreme winds.
She says the military's investigation needs to find out whether such information was communicated and if any decisions made about the training were based on it on the day of the fire.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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