Two awesome events happened this past week – one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec.
Dignitaries, media and invited guests assembled at the Regina Wildlife Federation’s sprawling shooting complex for the official installation of Robert Freberg as the first provincial CFO of Saskatchewan.
Amongst the VIPs assembled were Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, the Hon. Christine Tell, Saskatchewan Minister of the Environment, the Hon. Warren Kaeding, the Hon. Lyle Stewart, Provincial Secretary, and former Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, the Hon. Dan D’Autremont.
Federally, the Hon. Andrew Scheer, M.P. and Warren Steinley, M.P., attended the press conference to demonstrate their support.
In addition, Gil White, chairman of the Saskatchewan Recreational Firearms Association, Joyce Lorenz, past president of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, John Lawson of the Saskatchewan Association for Firearm Education (SAFE) and Tony Bernardo, executive director of the CSSA attended the official appointment.
CFO Robert Freberg stated:
“I am immensely pleased to be here today as Saskatchewan’s first provincial CFO.
“Throughout my career, I have worked and volunteered in the firearms community.
“I have been a board member and volunteer with the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation, an elected member of the national Board of Directors for the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, and a firearms instructor, helping generations of Saskatchewan sportsmen and women be safe, responsible firearms owners. I am also a passionate hunter.
“In my years of serving the Saskatchewan firearms community, I have advocated strongly on behalf of responsible firearms owners.
“As CFO, I look forward to representing Saskatchewan’s position on firearms regulation, promoting firearms safety and education, and ensuring public safety.
“I know Saskatchewan firearms owners stand for safe, responsible, and accountable ownership of firearms.
“It will be an honour to serve them in my new capacity as CFO and to advocate for them at the provincial and national level.”
CFO Freberg has also been a recipient of the 2018 Canadian Shooting Sports National Recognition Award for outstanding contributions to the Canadian firearms community.
Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety, the Hon. Christine Tell also spoke to the assembly, stating, “This is the culmination of over a year of hard work to move to a provincial firearms program that better represents the needs of Saskatchewan citizens.”
She added, “We are in very good hands with Mr. Freberg, and we are confident he will do everything in his power to advocate for responsible firearm owners in this province.”
On September 24th, Geneviève Guilbault – Quebec’s Public Security Minister – announced a $90 million plan to tackle gang and drug-related violence in the province.[i]
“It’s been a few weeks that, almost on a daily basis, or at least every week, we hear stories of shootings, acts of intimidation and shows of force among criminalized groups that want to intimidate each other. They carry out all types of violent events anytime, anywhere, at whatever time of day or night,” Minister Guilbault said.
This $90-million investment will create a Quebec-wide operation called CENTAURE that will involve at least 20 of the province’s police forces, including those in the province’s Indigenous communities.
This investment also includes the hiring of 107 new specialists – 87 police officers, 15 forensic scientists and five correctional officers – to deal an “unprecedented blow” to the illegal firearms networks in the province.
CSSA congratulates Minister Geneviève Guilbault on her resolve to stop drug dealers and criminal gangs from wreaking havoc on communities in her province.
If Justin Trudeau’s Liberal federal government took its job of stopping drug dealer and gang violence as seriously as Quebec did this past week, this scourge on public safety would no longer exist.
There are few photo ops in doing the right thing though, so expect more useless measures from Justin Trudeau and his Public Safety Minister in the coming weeks and months.
Sources:
[i]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/guilbault-public-security-gun-violence-police-1.6188106
Who Will Take Guns Away from Criminals?