A Conservative MP will be wrapping up his trip to Whitehorse today to hear Yukoners’ concerns about a federal bill aimed at tightening the country’s firearms legislation.

An avid hunter, fisherman and gun-owner himself, Alberta MP Blaine Calkins said he has been to the city often.

This time around, though, he said it was to hear from those who were unable to voice their concerns after being blocked from testifying on a federal committee.

He added that he hopes to “give them a perspective they might not be getting.”

Speaking to the Star Friday afternoon ahead of his visit, the Red Deer-Lacombe MP sits on the standing committee on public safety and national security. He is one of three Conservatives on the committee, which also features seven Liberals and a lone New Democrat.

The Yukon Party too issued a release in late May expressing disappointment that the federal Liberals had blocked a motion on this committee that would have seen two Yukon residents testify.

One of those witnesses would have been Stacey Hassard, the party’s interim leader, as well as Gord Zealand, the Yukon Fish and Games Association’s executive director.

Calkins said the Liberals had “extra-special meetings to hustle this bill through” – while his motion for it to hold additional meetings was shot down.

He added that he had hoped for more time to debate the bill.

“This is very abnormal: usually a piece of legislation like this takes a little bit longer,” he said, adding that it can take up a couple days of debate in the house.

Meanwhile, the territory’s lone MP, Liberal Larry Bagnell, said today Calkins’ visit was appreciated but overdue.

“He’s just come now; I’ve been working on this for months,” Bagnell told the Star.

He continued that some of the opposition was rooted in a lack of a close reading of the bill itself.

“A lot of people like Yukon hunters are aware that it wouldn’t affect them” dramatically, he said, especially after some of his “fulsome discussions and meetings” with residents.

He encouraged those concerned to ask for clarification on some of the requirements set out in the bill, something Bagnell noted was a significant part of his discussions.

“They just aren’t aware of the details, the technical details,” he said, adding that some may have “heard rumours but they’re not necessarily true.”

For instance, he said some believed that the reclassification of weapons was to be done by the RCMP. In actuality, he noted, these were already established by members of Parliament.

“The classifications are defined, so the RCMP is to simply” put it into action, he added.

Meanwhile, Calkins maintained that the bill is misguided.

“The goal is public safety but it goes after ... the firearms community,” he said, calling some of the changes “egregious.”

For instance, he fears owners will be “accidentally caught up in the bureaucracy and red tape” of records-keeping.

The Star reported in April that some retailers also had concerns about the requirement of records-keeping, saying it placed the burden on stores to maintain records for a lengthy period of time spanning two decades.

Calkins continued that some committee members may not have had the same invested interest he does.

“Liberal MPs that are on the public safety committee by in large do not represent, in my estimation, typical rural communities,” he said.

Representing central Alberta, he noted that his rural riding is full of hunters and fishermen, and he is a firearm owner himself.

For whatever reason, the Liberal government, somehow they believe that going after law-abiding owners will decrease illegal gun activity,” he continued.

Calkins was also disappointed when the Liberals put forward a motion to study things like mental health and gang-related issues as it relates to the legislation, saying it seemed too little too late.

“We’ve been telling them all along that they should be focusing on reducing the risk when it comes to buying firearms,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bagnell offered more clarification.

He noted that when transporting firearms between the owner’s home, a shooting range and the place of purchase, for instance, holders will not need to apply for authorization approval.

Rather, he said, this will only apply to prohibited and restricted firearms – “the more dangerous guns.”

Even with the other firearms, the process “can be done in five minutes on the phone or computer,” he added.

He said some of the opposition to the bill may have missed this note.

“The vast majority of guns in the Yukon are hunting rifles,” Bagnell continued. The way of life for Indigenous groups and avid hunters would likely not be affected dramatically, he pointed out.

He said that when going to gun ranges, “which is where people usually go,” they will avoid any red tape “90 per cent of the time” if they are not carrying prohibited and restricted firearms.

As for the committee denying some witnesses the ability to testify, Bagnell said it was logistically unfortunate.

“Each committee is in control of their own destiny,” he said, adding that “there are far more people in Canada than they have slots for.”

Having representatives like the association would have been helpful though, he said, because “they have good knowledge of firearms.”

Until then, Bagnell said he is more than willing to meet with those worried about the bill and its “technical ramifications” on their ownership.

“Anytime anyone wants to meet with me on that or have a phone call, they should,” he said, adding that “I think people with the biggest concerns already have.

“My door is always open,” he continued.

Calkins added he was set to meet with the fish and game association, among others, later today.

After passing first and second readings, the bill is now before the committee, which has held five meetings so far, according to a Parliament webpage.

The last meeting was May 31, and Calkins said he expects the bill to be before the Senate before the end of the summer.