Manitoba's pleas for Amazon, Walmart to clamp down on online machete sales ignored

Amazon and Walmart Canada have so far ignored the NDP government's requests to restrict the online sale of machetes to Manitobans, the province says.

The major distributors haven't responded to two letters from the provincial government — issued Dec. 6, 2024, and Feb. 6, 2025 — asking them to "comply with the intent" of provincial legislation when selling machetes and other long-bladed weapons online, the government confirmed.

The new provincial rules, which came into effect Dec. 31 and only apply to in-store sales, require businesses to sell the items only to adults with photo identification, and to keep records of their sales for two years.

They must also keep the items stored in a way that prevents shoppers from accessing them without assistance.

But the provincial law doesn't apply to online sales, and as a result, customers of sites like Amazon and Walmart can buy machetes — a type of weapon frequently used in violent crimes — without disclosing their age or providing an ID.

CBC News found dozens of machetes for sale across Amazon and Walmart's websites. Both businesses can deliver these products to customers' doors.

'Obligation to be good corporate citizens'

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said he's disappointed the online giants haven't honoured the province's asks.

"I can tell you we're frustrated that these online retailers aren't taking this seriously in the way that we were asking them to," he said in an interview last week.

Amazon hadn't responded to multiple requests for comment from CBC News prior to publication. Walmart said in an email its stores are following the law, but didn't answer a question about why it was ignoring the province's requests regarding online sales.

Wiebe said those retailers "should consider the impact … on public safety" of continuing to sell machetes without restrictions.

"They should understand their obligation to be good corporate citizens, in the same way that when we reached out to retailers here, like Canadian Tire or Cabela's, they were willing to work with us," Wiebe said.

The website for the outdoor goods store Cabela's (now branded as Bass Pro Shops) informs customers attempting to buy machetes online the product is only carried at its retail outlets. 

Canadian Tire only stocks machetes in-store as well. CBC found one machete available for sale online last week, but the item's blade had saw teeth, and saws are exempt from the provincial legislation.

Online sales shouldn't be exempt: PC critic

Wayne Balcaen, the Progressive Conservative justice critic, said while the provincial law is "better than nothing," online sales shouldn't be excluded.

"If a person can walk into a retail store and they're controlled on what they can purchase, but yet they can go online and purchase the same item without any sanctions, then what's the sense of having that law? Because a large percentage of shopping happens online," he said.

Balcaen, a former Brandon Police Service chief, acknowledged enforcing regulations around online sales would be challenging.

But "policing is hard to do, and being a victim is hard to do," he said.

"I think it's incumbent upon us as legislators to put the effort and put the hard work into it for our constituents and for people of Manitoba."

He said the provincial government should partner with the federal government to beef up legislation around machete use, such as pursuing stronger criminal penalties. 

Wiebe said in an interview he's been asking the federal government to impose stronger restrictions.

In a letter to the federal justice minister last October, Wiebe urged the Liberal government to prohibit an array of machetes and other long-bladed weapons that serve "no legitimate purpose other than to inflict harm on others." 

Manitoba's machete legislation is modelled after a bill by the former Progressive Conservative government restricting the sale of bear spray, which led to a 25 per cent reduction in crimes involving the spray, Wiebe said last fall.

The justice minister said last week he's confident the machete law will have a similar positive effect, but no data is available so far.

Law 'makes sense': retailer

Kaitlyn Peters, general manager of Pollock's Hardware Co-op, supports the law because it puts up obstacles for people who may be buying machetes for nefarious purposes. 

"I think it makes sense to help protect the community and also the retailers. It's important that these things don't end up in the wrong hands."

The hardware store in Winnipeg's North End stopped selling machetes voluntarily in 2021 after hearing they were the weapon of choice in various crimes.

Pollock's wasn't selling more than one or two a year, Peters said, but still "wanted to do our part to protect the community."

"We just didn't really see a need to have those kind of items in the store," she said.

There have already been instances in 2025 of machetes being used in violent crimes in Winnipeg.

A 16-year-old was arrested after swinging a machete at a passerby during an attempted robbery in the King Edward neighbourhood in late January.

And when an argument over rent in the Fort Garry neighbourhood earlier that month escalated, a building caretaker attacked a tenant with a machete.