Winnipeg is a unique city. It’s home to Canada’s oldest ballet company. That’s something to be proud of.

But Winnipeg is also the only jurisdiction west of Quebec that has an explicit agreement with the federal government to help carry out its gun confiscation scheme.

The federal government announced the rollout of its national gun confiscation program with a declaration period that started on Jan. 19.      

Every firearm model banned by Ottawa was previously legally owned by licensed Canadians who passed background checks and safety training. Criminals who possess guns illegally cannot turn their guns into the police under this program.      

Having their local government and police force participate in this program is not something Winnipeggers should be proud of. Ottawa’s gun confiscation will only cost taxpayers money and waste local police resources without making the city any safer.

That’s because gun crimes aren’t committed by licensed gun owners who take courses and pass background checks.

Premier Wab Kinew certainly doesn’t think it’s going to help with public safety.

“If we’re looking at taking away weapons from criminals … I’m all for that, but this program doesn’t look like it’s going to achieve that end,” said Kinew. “Instead, it’s going to create other issues around administration and costs.”

And Manitobans don’t think it’ll work either. A majority of Manitobans believe it would work better to toughen measures to stop illegal gun smuggling instead of carrying out a government gun ban and confiscation scheme, according to polling by Leger.

More and more provincial governments are refusing to play ball with Ottawa on this program. The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador have also told the feds that they are not going to administer the program.

Charlottetown city council voted unanimously not to take part in Ottawa’s gun grab.

“Instead of going after legal gun owners, the emphasis should be on illegal gun owners,” said Charlottetown Councillor Mitchell Tweel.

Law enforcement experts are saying the same thing, with police forces across the country refusing to help Ottawa because the program doesn’t focus on the real problem of illegal guns.

“We must focus our efforts where they have the greatest public safety impact, including targeting criminals who use illegal firearms, particularly those entering Canada from the United States,” said the Toronto Police Service.

“We know that the gun buyback program is going to have, essentially, zero impact on the crime in Toronto,” said Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association.

The “zero impact” can be seen in the failure of the federal government’s pilot project in Cape Breton. The government aimed to confiscate 200 firearms. It only collected 25. And it cost taxpayers about $7,000 per gun collected.

That’s a clear failure. It’s going to be no different in Winnipeg.

The City of Winnipeg is getting at least $2.8 million from the federal government to carry out the confiscation scheme. That’s enough money to pay the annual salaries of more than 20 police officers.    

On this program, Winnipeg is one of Ottawa’s last allies. And it’s not clear why. It looks like Mayor Scott Gillingham is sticking with the program to curry favour with the feds. Now isn’t the time for political games, it’s time for the mayor to stand up for taxpayers and law-abiding firearms owners.

That’s why Gillingham should join Kinew to disavow Ottawa’s gun confiscation and instead call on the feds to focus on crime committed with illegal guns.