Gun control advocates in Montreal say they are both hopeful and worried following a meeting with a federal elected official concerning its consultations on banning handguns and assault weapons.
The groups took part this morning in an invitation-only federal consultation in Montreal that is criss-crossing the country.
But groups such as Poly SeSouvient say the timeline is tight to get anything done before the Liberals' last mandate is up and the election begins next year and they're concerned nothing concrete will come out of the consultations soon enough.
"It's been 29 years that we've had a very clear example of the damage that can be caused, the suffering that's caused, the loss of life, the destruction of families that can happen when one person, one ill-intentioned person, gets their hands on a weapon," said Heidi Rathjen, one of the survivors of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre where 14 women were shot dead by a lone gunman.
Shuyee Lee/CJAD 800
Boufelja Benabdallah, co-founder and president of the Quebec City mosque where six worshippers were shot and killed by a sole gunman last year, criticized the federal government for spending so much time publicizing its legal marijuana law instead of spending more time spreading awareness on the dangers of firearms.
Rathjen said they're glad they were heard this morning but they're concerned the Liberals won't keep their promise to get these types of weapons off the streets.
"If nothing is done before the next election, the gun lobby will have won. Like the president of the Quebec mosque said - six dead, seven injured, one individual who has no more use of his body, he's in a wheelchair. All this happened in two minutes with a legal glock and five ten-bullet ammunition clips," Rathjen told CJAD 800.
"What more does the government need to act to protect Canadians against the misuse of handguns, assault weapons and other military accessories?"
The federal government had said it wanted to finish the consultations by the end of this year and come up with a report in early 2019.