Former Supreme Court justice John Major to chair Liberals’ firearms advisory committee

Former Supreme Court justice John Major will serve as chair of the federal government’s firearms advisory committee, CBC News has learned.

A source with knowledge of the appointment, speaking to CBC News on condition of anonymity, said Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale will formally make the announcement Friday morning, along with naming the committee’s two vice-chairs.

Goodale hinted in an interview two weeks ago that the newly overhauled group would be led by a “distinguished Canadian jurist.”

The advisory committee provides advice and expertise to the government on firearms issues and has been vacant since the Liberals came to office in 2015.

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Major served on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 until 2005. A year later, he was appointed to lead the inquiry into the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, which he called the worst mass murder in Canadian history.

Most recently, Major has been practising law in Calgary.

Having a former Supreme Court judge heading the committee signals the Canadian Firearms Advisory Committee will be serving a much different role than it did in the past.

Under the previous government, the group was stacked with firearms enthusiasts, many of whom lobbied for the reclassification of rifles or looser restrictions on guns.

The Liberals committed to changing the makeup of the committee’s membership during the last federal election.

Goodale recently told CBC News that members of the group would be more representative of Canadian society and would include farmers, hunters, the sporting community, women, police and those from the public-health sector.

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justice-john-major-committee-1.3975345?cmp=rss