‘I am not a criminal’: Carey Price takes aim at federal firearms bill
Carey Price #CareyPrice
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price took to Instagram on Saturday to voice his opposition to Bill C-21, the federal government’s new firearms bill.
He posted a photo of himself wearing camouflage and holding a firearm while standing in a field alongside a caption that read: “I love my family, I love my country and I care for my neighbour. I am not a criminal or a threat to society. What [Justin Trudeau] is trying to do is unjust. I support the [Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights] to keep my hunting tools. Thank you for listening to my opinion.”
At issue is an amendment to Bill C-21 introduced last month that proposed expanding the definition of a prohibited assault-style firearm.
While the Liberal government has maintained the definition only applies to guns that belong on the battlefield, Conservative MPs have said it would affect a number of hunting rifles and shotguns.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, which urged the public to “create an avalanche of opposition” to the bill, reshared Price’s post and thanked him for it.
The organization made headlines in November for using POLY — as in the PolySeSouvient gun control group , formed after the 1989 Polytechnique massacre — as a promo code .
(PolySeSouvient tweeted on Saturday that Price had been “duped” by disinformation on Bill C-21.)
Price’s statement was enthusiastically greeted by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
“Carey is absolutely right,” he wrote on Twitter . “Hunting is a great Canadian tradition. Trudeau’s attempts to ban hunting rifles are an attack on rural and Indigenous people. We must stop him.”
Meanwhile, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet lamented Price’s post.
“They’ve convinced Carey Price and so many others that the goal or effect of gun control is to impede hunting,” he tweeted . “That is false.”
Price, 35, is currently on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) list as he deals with ongoing knee issues.
He he has four seasons left on his contract, though his annual salary of $10.5 million won’t count against the cap so long as he’s on LTIR. It’s unclear if he will ever play for the Habs again.
With files from The Canadian Press.