I am a little lost here! Are firearms illegal in Canada because to my knowledge they are not.
All firearms in Canada are illegal.
I'm Canadian and I feel I am well versed in the laws pertaining to firearms owners. Let me explain:
First of all, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not guarantee any property rights. It does not guarantee protection from the state taking your property without compensation. It does not even guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.* (nothwithstanding clause)
Now, Bill C-68, (The Firearms Act) was a bill introduced by the Liberal Majority Gov't.
The Firearms Act makes all civilian ownership of firearms in Canada a criminal code offense (illegal). There is an exception granted for holders of a Possession and Acquisition License but only while the PAL is valid. If the holder of the PAL fails to renew or the renewal is denied, you lose your ability to own firearms and your property without compensation. Remember, firearms ownership is illegal unless you have a PAL.
The Chief Firearms officer can revoke any (or indeed all) PALs without notice at his own discretion for any reason.
The Firearms act also gives the RCMP (national police force) the ability to reclassify firearms based on whether they think (in their opinion) it is a derivative of another prohibited firearm. This is done without an act of parliament or input of any elected official. It is an act of the police. Only 2 months ago, the RCMP reclassified the AP-80 to prohibited status. Owners had to turn in their property within 30 days with no compensation or face jail time. These firearms are registered so the RCMP knows who has them. The AP-80 vaguely LOOKS like an AK47 but shares no parts. It's a 22lr blow-back operated plinker. The RCMP said it was a derivative of the AK47 which is a prohibited firearm.
The firearms act also gives sweeping powers to the CFO and his agents (the police) to enter and search your home if they have reasonable grounds to believe that there may be 10 or more firearms (registry) - OR - if you simply have a restricted firearm. (restricted registry is not part of the long gun registry and will remain).
This is a nation where what amounts to being laws are made by the police and not the elected government. Is that freedom? In my opinion, all laws and classification should be done through an act of parliament which involves debate and hearings and voting by elected officials, not done in secret by the police.
It gets more ridiculous from there but I believe I'm already sufficiently embarrassed of my nation.
Sadly, the liberal 'social re-engineering' of Canada that has already happened is happening in the USA right now...
Good luck brothers - I hope you have better luck than we did.