Liberal incumbent and former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair won his riding of Scarborough Southwest in the federal election. He is seen at his victory party near Markham and Kingston road in Scarborough. Richard Lautens/Toronto Star

WINNIPEG — The prohibition of assault-style rifles across Canada is among the portions of a federal gun control plan that the governing Liberals believe they can accomplish “in the near term,” Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair revealed to reporters in Winnipeg, Man., Monday afternoon.

Blair — who led a conversation about the government’s gun-related platform commitments on Monday morning, as part of a three-day cabinet retreat that’s drawn federal ministers to the prairies — also promised that new details about actions the government believes can be accomplished quickly would be revealed “in the coming weeks.”

Those actions will likely not include a potential buyback program for prohibited weapons, with Blair telling the press that such an effort could take “a little bit more time” to set in stone. “I think it’s really important that we get good value for the expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars,” Blair explained. “And at the same time, we’re mindful that we’re dealing with law-abiding Canadians, and I want to make sure that they’re treated fairly and respectfully.”

READ MORE: Completion of 2019 gun control unfinished while Liberals plan more firearm restrictions

Blair has previously indicated that the government’s promised prohibition law, and the adjoining regulations concerning military-style rifles, could take up to two years to be put in place. He reported that gun owners he’d spoken with, who possess what will be banned weapons, have voiced a preference for a buyback compensation system versus a prohibition where they would be able to keep their guns, but not take them out of their homes.

While Blair demurred when asked by reporters to detail exactly how quickly the federal government expected to introduce its pledged gun-control legislation — explaining there was a “certain complexity” to the file — Blair also noted that the prohibition of “certain types of weapons” would be executed as quickly as possible. Money for community programs is also likely to be among federal actions that can be taken in the shorter term, with Blair saying on Monday afternoon that the Liberal team needed to ensure that sufficient funding for community supports was part of discussions leading up to the reveal of their first budget as a second-term government.

“There are some things that I think we can proceed with very very quickly, and some investments that we can begin making in communities that I know will be very helpful and constructive,” Blair noted.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during his campaign this fall that the Liberals would ban all “military-style” assault rifles in Canada if re-elected, including the AR-15, and would work with the provinces and territories to give municipalities the power to restrict or ban handguns. The latter half of that proposal has been met with opposition from some politicians — including Ontario’s Doug Ford, who has said that he doesn’t see a handgun ban presenting an effective solution to rising gun violence — and, conversely, calls for strengthened action from others.

Winnipeg’s mayor, Brian Bowman, reiterated his support for a national handgun ban on Monday morning, following a sit-down discussion with Trudeau and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland at the hotel where their retreat is taking place. While Bowman confirmed that the issue wasn’t raised during their sit-down, he said his preference would still be a national or even a provincial ban, if the issue was going to be pursued. Trudeau has faced pushes for a Canada-wide prohibition on handguns from several mayors across the Greater Toronto Area, as well.

READ MORE: GTA mayors ask Trudeau for national handgun ban during Richmond Hill event

The federal Liberals ruled out a national ban in 2019, with Blair saying such a move could be “very expensive” and questioning its effectiveness in reducing criminals’ access to handguns, citing the proliferation of weapons that are smuggled into the country across the Canada-U.S. border. (Blair, at the time, was serving as Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction.) Since then, a handful of politicians — including at least one within Trudeau’s own caucus — have floated ideas such as automatically including municipalities in the ban, putting the onus on them to opt out rather than opt in. Asked about that option Monday, Blair did not give a specific answer.

Blair acknowledged to reporters that they had heard from “many mayors” who wanted the opportunity to bring forward additional restrictions. “But I think fundamentally, one of the things that we want to ensure is that we take all effective measures possible to keep guns out of the hands of people that would commit crimes with them,” he said.

The Trudeau government is also currently looking at legislation that would allow individuals such as doctors to identify “red flag” situations — including cases of suspected intimate partner violence, or cases where an individual might be contemplating suicide — and have any firearms present removed from that environment, Blair confirmed.

While mulling over new measures, the Trudeau Liberals are also in the throes of completing some gun-control measures that stem from legislation passed during their last term in government. Public Safety Canada and the RCMP confirmed to iPolitics this month that cabinet orders have not yet been passed to put into effect renewed controls over firearm sales, license verification and other restrictions that were contained in Bill C-71.

Other steps have yet to be taken that would put into force amendments to the Firearms Act, including funding approval for new systems and regulations that Parliament has to review. As reported by iPolitics’ Tim Naumetz, the funding approval would likely come in the Liberals’ first budget following their re-election in the fall.