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ARTICLE · 02 MARCH 2021

Saskatchewan Trumps Municipalities Regarding Handgun Ban

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The Federal Government has introduced legislation in Bill C-21 which authorizes municipalities to opt-in to federal legislative bans on handguns.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Milad Alishahi
Milad Alishahi
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The Federal Government has introduced legislation in Bill C-21 which authorizes municipalities to opt-in to federal legislative bans on handguns. While Bill C-21 is likely constitutional in its own right, it doesn't matter to Saskatchewan municipalities: the Saskatchewan Government has blocked them from using it.

Unlike provinces or the Federal Government, municipalities do not get their powers from the constitution. Municipalities are creatures of provincial statute. In Saskatchewan, municipalities are governed by either The Cities Act, SS 2002, c C-11.1, The Municipalities Act, SS 2005, c M-36.1 or The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010, SS 2010, c N-5.2. Thus, it is up to the provincial governments to grant powers to the municipalities, not the Federal Government.

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