[Jordan Baker]

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Feds set to melt down millions worth of military memorabilia
Bryn Weese, Parliamentary Bureau
Today at 12:00 AM
Despite all its bluster about saving money and honouring Canada's armed forces, the Conservative federal government is poised to melt down millions of dollars worth of military memorabilia.

Specifically, the Department of Defence is planning to send 19,000 highly collectable Browning Hi-Power pistols made in Toronto more than 60 years ago to the smelter and destroy them, instead of allowing licensed firearm owners to buy them for hundreds of dollars each.

As reported recently, the Canadian Forces are replacing the Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistols starting in the fall 2015. The decommissioned sidearms, the standard military issue pistol for the forces since 1944, are set to be destroyed.

The price of used handguns varies widely but a price of $300 to $500, excluding any military historical value, is common. Assuming an average $400 price tag for the Browning, selling the surplus to licensed collectors could raise more than $7 million in much needed-revenue for the government.

But that's not the plan.

"The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces are committed to the safe disposal of firearms," wrote forces spokeswoman Josee Hunter in an e-mail Friday. "The standard DND practice for disposing of restricted small arms is destruction through smelting."

But similar guns -- even new Hi-Powers -- are available in Canada to restricted gun license holders. And Hi-Powers produced in Toronto for Britain and other Commonwealth countries are also available to Canadians on the used gun market, having been sold off in years past.

"It just seems incongruous to me that something that is such a valuable piece of Canadian history would be unavailable to people who are lawfully allowed to purchase one," said Tony Bernardo with the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action. "This is an incredible piece of Canadian history that shouldn't be lost like this."

The Browning Hi-Power pistol dates back to 1935, when Belgian Dieudonne Saive improved an earlier John Browning handgun design for military contracts in Europe. When the Nazis overran Belgium during the Second World War, Saive fled to Britain and ultimately to Toronto where he recreated the designs for the Hi-Power from memory.

The John Inglis and Co. factory in Toronto started producing Hi-Powers for all Commonwealth countries in 1944, while the Nazis continued production in Belgium, thus making the Hi-Power the only pistol used on both sides of the war.

Production ceased in Toronto in 1946, but those 60-plus-year-old guns are still in use by the Canadian Forces today.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the government "understands" the interest in Canada's military past.

"As such, this government will ensure that museums across Canada have access to these symbols of Canadian history," said Jay Paxton. "Of course, the vast majority of these firearms will be disposed of in a safe, secure and controlled environment."

The forces' new General Service Pistol -- of which 10,000 are being ordered -- will be built by Colt Canada, the Canadian Forces' small arms manufacturer in Kitchener, Ont.