Former Manitoba MP charged after 439 firearms, antique cannon seized by police

A former long-serving federal politician in Manitoba is facing charges after police say a stockpile of weapons, including an antique cannon, were seized from a home in Dauphin last week.

Manitoba RCMP say they seized 439 firearms and $300,000 in cash from the home of Inky Mark, a former MP who represented Dauphin from 1997 to 2010.

Authorities allege at least three of the seized firearms were illegally trafficked, and one had its serial number tampered with. They say it will take several weeks for the evidence to be catalogued and to determine how many of the weapons were illegally possessed.

Mark, 78, was charged with multiple firearms-related offences, including firearms trafficking, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number, possession of property obtained by crime, and unsafe storage of firearms. The allegations against him have not been tested in court.

“At this time we don’t know his motives on why he had that many firearms,” said RCMP Cpl. Barry Kirby. “We know he was a firearms collector.

“You can possess as many firearms legally as you want to possess. Where it goes into the criminal realm is when you get into the trafficking of the firearms, the unsafe storage, the unauthorized possession of certain firearms. That’s where it dives into that criminal realm.”

Kirby said the man’s property was surrounded by signs displaying political messages, without specifying what those messages were exactly.

The investigation began in late March after a 73-year-old Dauphin-area man was facing firearms charges in the U.S. The subsequent RCMP investigation resulted in more charges against that same man.

While executing a search warrant in that case, RCMP say they seized firearms that were purchased by a second suspect and never lawfully transferred. That led to the search of the second suspect’s home.

“The trafficking of illegal firearms is not just about the weapons themselves; it’s about the crimes that those weapons can enable,” said Scott McMurchy, commanding officer of Manitoba RCMP. “Generally speaking, these weapons are unregistered, can be difficult to trace, and in the wrong hands, they can fuel violence in the communities that we serve and support the activities of organised crime groups.

“For that reason, it is an absolute priority for the RCMP to protect public safety by taking illegal guns off the streets and out of our communities.”

Gun rights advocate

Mark won a seat in Parliament in 1997 for Dauphin-Swan River and won four more times before deciding not to run in 2010.

His time in office came during a time of division, discord and ultimately reunification for Canada’s conservative movement. Mark was first elected under the Reform Party banner but later sat in the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative caucuses, and ultimately as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

His time in office was marked by advocacy for immigration, multiculturalism, recognition of historical injustices and gun rights.

While in office, Mark opposed the creation of a national gun registry in 1998, which was being phased in over the next five years. At one point, Mark urged gun owners to wait to the last minute to register their firearms as a form of protest.

Mark also tabled a number of petitions opposing the gun registry, and called on the government of former prime minister Jean Chrétien to put the money towards things like crime prevention and policing instead.

He made headlines in 2000 when a fellow Reform MP was charged with assaulting Mark during a caucus meeting. The charge was later stayed due to insufficient evidence.

He tried twice to put forward legislation that would declare that all Canadians have the right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable limits, but both private member’s bills didn’t go further than first reading.

Before being elected to Parliament, Mark served as the mayor of Dauphin and president of the local handgun club.

–With files from The Canadian Press