Former Manitoba lawmaker charged after 439 firearms seized from home

RCMP seized 439 firearms from the Dauphin-area home of former Manitoba MP Inky Mark, along with an antique cannon, ammunition and more than $300,000 in cash. The 78-year-old was arrested during the July 7 search and later released with conditions after being charged with a dozen weapons-related offences, including firearms trafficking.

RCMP allege at least three of the firearms were illegally trafficked, one had a tampered serial number, and hundreds were improperly stored. Mark is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 11. The material recovered from the property will take weeks to document, and more charges are still possible.

The investigation began in March after a 73-year-old Dauphin-area man was charged with firearms offences in the United States. That earlier case involved firearms that had been purchased by a second suspect and never lawfully transferred, leading investigators to seek two search warrants for Mark’s home through the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team.

Mark represented Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa from 1997 to 2010, first as a Reform Party MP and later with the Canadian Alliance and Conservatives. Before entering federal politics, he was elected mayor of Dauphin in 1994 and later ran unsuccessfully for mayor again in 2010 and for his old seat in 2015 as an independent. University of Manitoba political scientist Chris Adams said the charges are among the most serious ever laid against a current or former Manitoba MP.

Mark has denied trafficking any firearms, but he has said he illegally transferred three guns and apologized to Canadians for that conduct. Signs with political messages were displayed on the property, though the wording was not specified.