A former long-serving Canadian Member of Parliament and small-town mayor is facing a dozen criminal charges after Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigators seized nearly 450 firearms, an antique cannon, and more than C$300,000 in cash from his rural Manitoba property.
The 78-year-old Inky Mark, who represented the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa region at both municipal and federal levels for more than 15 years, was taken into custody on July 7 during a search warrant execution as part of an ongoing cross-border firearms trafficking probe. Authorities confirmed Tuesday that investigators recovered 439 firearms from Mark’s home near Dauphin, with at least three confirmed to be tied to illegal trafficking. One weapon was also found to have its serial number intentionally altered, a key red flag for illegal gun circulation.
Mark faces multiple charges including formal firearms trafficking, possession of unauthorized firearms-related devices, and unsafe storage of weapons. RCMP officials have emphasized that the illicit activities uncovered in the raid pose a direct threat to public safety across the region.
The investigation traces back to March of this year, when RCMP received notice of pending firearms charges filed in the United States against a separate man from the Dauphin area. Follow-up inquiries connected that case to Mark, leading investigators to the cache of weapons that police say were never processed through legal transfer channels. Alongside the hundreds of guns, officers also found an antique cannon and the C$300,000 in cash (equivalent to roughly £158,000).
While Mark has a documented history as a firearms collector, investigators have not yet confirmed a clear motive for the alleged trafficking activity. Manitoba RCMP Corporal Barry Kirby told reporters Monday: “We know he’s a firearm collector, but that’s really all that we know at this stage.”
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy, commanding officer for the Manitoba division, released a formal statement on the case stressing the severity of the charges. “The illegal trafficking of prohibited weapons is a serious offence that threatens public safety,” McMurchy said. “We thank the many RCMP officers who are working on this case for their tireless efforts in targeting individuals who are trafficking these dangerous and illegal weapons and bringing them to justice.”
Officials noted that processing and cataloging the hundreds of seized items will take investigators several additional weeks, as they work to sort legally held property from illegally possessed firearms and confirm the full scope of the alleged trafficking network.
Following his initial court appearance last week, Mark was released from custody on a series of undiclosed conditions. A veteran of Canadian federal politics, Mark was first elected mayor of Dauphin in 1994, holding that municipal seat until he lost re-election in 2010. He moved to federal politics in 1997, representing his rural Manitoba constituency until stepping down from the House of Commons in 2010. Over his political career, he was a member of the Reform Party of Canada, the Canadian Alliance, and the Conservative Party of Canada, before running unsuccessfully for re-election as an independent candidate in 2015.
The arrest comes amid an ongoing national debate over gun policy in Canada. While Manitoba is bound by Canada’s strict federal gun control regulations, the provincial government has openly pushed back against additional federal firearms restrictions, and recreational shooting has long held deep cultural roots in rural regions of the province.