“This
is a lot bigger problem than the Justice Minister is willing to admit in public
or in Parliament.”
Yorkton – Today,
Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, released more evidence of the
phenomenal failure of the government’s controversial gun registry.
“The information provided by the government shows that there has been
almost a total boycott of the gun registry by Aboriginal people in Canada,”
stated Breitkreuz. “Based on all the data the Justice Department has been
willing to release so far, over the last two years, it would appear that only
2,779 Aboriginal people have received a firearms licence from the Department of
Justice. “Even using the
government’s understated statistics on the number of gun owners in Canada,
this is a horrendous rate of non-compliance!”
“Using the best
government data available to the public, I estimate that between 51,000 and
72,000 aboriginal households possess at least one firearm. Even if each one of these Aboriginal people with a firearm
licence live in 2,779 separate households this would mean a compliance rate for
Aboriginal firearms owners of about five percent.” Breitkreuz based his estimates on Statistics Canada census
data that shows there are more than 500,000 Aboriginal people over the age of
15, approximately 300,000 Aboriginal households and twelve Department of Justice
studies that say that between 17% and 24% of Canadian households own at least
one firearm.
In December and January,
some newspapers reported defiant statements by Aboriginal people living in the
Mohawk Nations of Kahnawake, Kanesatake and Akwesasne in Quebec and the
Tyendinaga in Ontario. On January
10, 2001, the Montreal Gazette quoted one Mohawk leader; “The
new firearms law would have no force and effect within Mohawk Territory.” This public defiance of
the Criminal
Code of Canada prompted Breitkreuz to file a
number Access to Information (ATI) requests.
The Department of Justice responded to his first request on February 5th
saying they had no documents on the number of firearms licences issued to
Aboriginals in Canada. The
Saskatchewan MP filed another ATI request knowing that only Aboriginal people
and sustenance hunters can get a firearms licence without paying a fee.
The department’s response dated March 30, 2001 reported that a “GRAND TOTAL” of 2,779 “Licences issued with no payment made.” (See ATI response attached)
The government spreadsheet
also provided a provincial breakdown of the number of Aboriginal/Sustenance
hunter licences issued. The Justice
document shows that compliance in the west by Aboriginals was truly pathetic:
Only 73 licences issued in BC; Only 92 licences issued in Alberta; Only 111
licences issued in Saskatchewan; and Only 87 licences issued in Manitoba.
“These results are truly laughable considering the number of Aboriginal
firearms owners there are in each of those provinces,” commented Breitkreuz.
“It shows a complete disdain for the gun registry by Aboriginals.”
“No wonder the Canadian
Firearms Centre (CFC) was holding secret meetings with the Assembly of First
Nations (AFN) in January.” Breitkreuz
called for a police investigation into possible Criminal
Code offences that occurred during or as a result of
these CFC/AFN meetings. The
Commissioner of the RCMP directed Breitkreuz to refer the documents he received
concerning these secret meetings to the city police in Edmonton, Saskatoon and
Ottawa for further investigation. “Last
week, I received a response to my ATI request, for minutes and results of the
two-day Edmonton meeting. I
received eleven pages of handwritten notes.
This was a two-day meeting between the Chief Executive Officer of the
Canadian Firearms Centre, Maryantonett Flumian and Vice-Chief of the Assembly of
First Nations, Bill Erasmus and a number of officials from each organization.
Do they expect me to believe that eleven pages of handwritten notes was
all the documentation that resulted from a two-day meeting between these
hi-level bureaucrats? This is a lot bigger problem than the Justice Minister is
willing to admit in public.”
-30-
FIREARMS
LICENCES ISSUED WITH NO PAYMENT MADE
From: Dec 1, 1998 To: Jan 1, 2001
TYPE PROV TOTAL
ACQLIC
AB
53
ACQLIC
BC
22
ACQLIC
MB
64
ACQLIC
NB
4
ACQLIC
NF
8
ACQLIC
NS
3
ACQLIC
NT
1460
ACQLIC
ON
204
ACQLIC
QC
395
ACQLIC
SK
51
ACQLIC
YT
13
TOTAL
POSS. & ACQ. LICENCES
2,277
POSLIC
AB
39
POSLIC
BC
51
POSLIC
MB
23
POSLIC
NB
8
POSLIC
NF
28
POSLIC
NS
15
POSLIC
NT
147
POSLIC
ON
96
POSLICE
PE
1
POSLIC
QC
31
POSLIC
SK
60
POSLIC
YT
3