Former Canadian Alliance MP Inky Mark pauses as he responds to a question from the media at the Progressive Conservative convention in Edmonton, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002. (CP PHOTO/Adrian Wyld)
Additional charges have been laid against a former Manitoba politician as part of a months-long RCMP investigation into firearms trafficking.
In July, Manitoba RCMP announced a search warrant had been executed at the Dauphin residence of Inky Mark, where investigators seized hundreds of firearms, an antique cannon, ammunition and more than $300,000 in cash. The 78-year-old was arrested and initially charged with 12 weapons-related offences.
In the weeks since, RCMP continued investigating and became aware of a new incident that allegedly occurred years before Mark’s arrest. On July 13, the same day the initial arrest was announced, officers learned of an earlier incident sometime between December 2024 and February 2025. RCMP say the suspect responded to a friend’s social media post about a coyote on their property by showing up unprompted and handing them a firearm with ammunition. The weapon wasn’t used and has since been recovered.
Processing of the evidence seized last month has also been completed. Mounties allege Mark possessed 445 firearms at the residence — six more than initially reported — including 295 that were unsafely stored, 10 that were prohibited, and 11 restricted or prohibited firearms not registered to him. Officers also recovered 26.5 kilograms of explosives, more than four times the legal limit for licensed individuals. Several restricted or prohibited firearms were stored with ammunition close at hand, and two firearms registered to the suspect could not be located.
Mark was re-arrested on August 12 and now faces 26 additional charges, including weapons trafficking, multiple counts of possessing prohibited or restricted firearms without proper licensing, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number, and having more than six kilograms of explosives. He now faces 38 charges in total.
Mark was released on an undertaking. The charges haven’t been tested in court.
Hundreds of firearms were seized on July 7, 2026 as part of two search warrants executed in Dauphin, Manitoba. (RCMP HANDOUT)
