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A former federal politician denies trafficking any firearms but acknowledges he illegally transferred three guns, after police seized hundreds of weapons from his western Manitoba home last week.
Inky Mark, 78, was charged with a dozen weapons-related offences after police took 439 guns from his home near the city of Dauphin during a July 7 search, RCMP said Monday. The items seized included an antique cannon and ammunition, according to police.
The charges include firearms trafficking, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number and three counts of unsafe firearms storage, police said. More charges are possible as the investigation unfolds.
At least three of the firearms found inside Mark’s home were illegally trafficked, police allege. One had a tampered serial number and hundreds were improperly stored, according to RCMP.
Speaking with CBC outside his home in Dauphin on Tuesday, Mark said he’s been legally collecting firearms since the early 1970s, but admitted some of those weapons are now illegal to own due to gun law changes over the years.
“What I can tell you is [that] what they took was 50-plus years of collection,” Mark said.
“I’m a collector. I’ve been a registered collector since Day 1.”
RCMP said Monday it may take several weeks for investigators to determine how many of the firearms were illegally possessed.
Mark is a former MP who represented the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa riding. He was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and resigned his seat in 2010, after serving first with the Reform party, and later with the Canadian Alliance and finally as a Conservative.
He ran unsuccessfully for the seat again in 2015 as an independent.
Prior to his time as an MP, he was elected mayor of Dauphin in 1994. He ran unsuccessfully for that position again in 2010.
‘I’m sorry’
Mark, who was born in China, does not have a previous criminal record, police said Monday.
The former MP says he spent two days in jail last week, which he called “quite the traumatic experience.”
He’s been released from custody with conditions and is expected back in court next month.
“I’m going to depend on my good lawyer,” Mark said.
RCMP say they also seized more than $300,000 in currency from Mark’s home.
He told CBC the cash was the proceeds of property sales in Dauphin and denies it was connected with firearms trafficking.
“I didn’t sell anything. I transferred — according to them illegally, which it was,” he said. “I did it three times, stupid me.”
Mark offered apologies to the courts and to the people of Dauphin, the province and even Canada for the illegal gun transfers, which he says he admitted to police during an interview.
“I’m sorry. I just did something absolutely stupid,” he said. “I admit I broke the law.”
Signs and flags with messages denouncing Canada’s Liberal government, Prime Minister Mark Carney and former PM Justin Trudeau were seen outside Mark’s Dauphin property on Tuesday.
He described his political views as anti-Liberal and pro-free speech, but said those views have nothing to do with his firearms collection.
Google Maps shows a sign that says “Trudeau confiscating all your guns” displayed near Mark’s property in May 2024.
That sign, and several others seen in the Google Maps image, were not seen at the property on Tuesday.
Mark said in a 2012 letter to the Western Producer newspaper that “all firearms laws should be removed” from Canada’s Criminal Code.
