While Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree pushes back against calls for him to resign or be fired following leaked audio in which he can be heard questioning the federal gun buyback program he oversees, Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has “confidence” in his minister.

“I have confidence in the minister, he is doing important work,” Carney said when asked by reporters on Tuesday in New York City, adding the federal government is fulfilling an election promise with the gun buyback program.

Anandasangaree has faced scrutiny this week after the Toronto Star first reported on an audio recording of a conversation between the minister and his tenant on Sunday in which he cast doubt on the program’s effectiveness, saying he would approach the issue differently.

In the recording, Anandasangaree also offers to pay the acquaintance the difference between the federal government’s compensation and what he paid for his now-banned firearms, and says Carney is sticking with the policy to appease voters in Quebec.

The public safety minister says the conversation was recorded without his knowledge.

“As we were contemplating the launch, we knew a number of things will come our way to both obstruct as well as derail this announcement, and that’s what happened last Sunday, as you’re aware, but I’m absolutely resolved to implement and bring forward this program to Canadians,” Anandasangaree said in an interview with CTV Power Play on Tuesday when asked about calls for him to resign.

Asked by host Vassy Kapelos why Canadians should accept the buyback program if he can’t explain its justification, Anandasangaree said he believes in the program but said some of his comments were “misguided.”

“Obviously, (the comments are) just in a private conversation, not to be taken at face value,” he added.

On Tuesday, the federal government kicked off its long-awaited gun buyback program for individuals with a pilot project in Nova Scotia, with full rollout of the program coming later this fall.

The buyback program — which compensates businesses and individuals for guns on the prohibited firearms list — was already in effect for businesses, but had yet to roll out for individuals.

According to senior government officials at a technical briefing ahead of the announcement, there’s been $742 million in allocated funding to the program since its inception in May 2020.

Since then, the federal government has banned more than 2,000 models of “assault-style firearms” and variants as part of its strategy to tackle gun violence.

Pressed again by Kapelos on why he would make light of a program already fraught with controversy, Anandasangaree insisted “I fundamentally believe in this program.”

“This is a 20-minute conversation I had with someone I’ve known for many years. I’m sure if you were recorded in a private conversation, there may be things that you would have said or things the way you say it that may be different than in a public setting,” he said.

Asked if Canadians can feel confident in the effectiveness of the program in light of his leaked comments, Anandasangaree said the buyback program is part of a “multi-pronged approach.”

“I have not said it won’t be effective. I’ve said I would have done it differently,” he said.

Anandasangaree also insisted the program “is not a crass political move” when asked about comments in the leaked conversation about the importance of the program in Quebec.

“Quebec is an important part of it, but it’s not just Quebec,” he said.

“This is a move to ensure that the safety of Canadians is paramount. We have an issue with gun violence right now. We see it on our streets. We see it across the country,” he later added.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, are calling on Carney to fire Anandasangaree from his portfolio.

“He admits he doesn’t know what a gun licence is. More than half of Canadians don’t feel safe under his watch. Will the Prime Minister do the only thing that will secure our country and fire this incompetent Minister?,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in Question Period on Tuesday.