FIREARMS REGISTRY ISSUES LICENCE WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S PICTURE

"Why is the Minister putting political priorities ahead of each citizen’s Charter right to privacy?"

Ottawa – Today in the House of Commons, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, exposed a colossal breech of privacy and shot another hole in the credibility of the Liberal’s two hundred million dollar gun registry. "The Department of Justice has bungled things so badly, they can’t even get the right picture on the right licence." Breitkreuz was commenting on a complaint being filed with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by Robert Soltis of Abbotsford, BC. Soltis is upset by the fact that when his new Firearms Licence arrived on March 9^th, it was not his photograph on the photo-identification. "Maybe the Justice Department should have consulted with the provinces that issue millions of photo-IDs on drivers licences and health cards without ever making a mistake like this," suggested Breitkreuz.

Here’s the exchange as it went in the House today:

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, Ref.): "Mr. Speaker, last week when I accused the government of bureaucratic bungling and wasting $200 million, the minister's mouthpiece said, "The firearms registry was operating very effectively". So effectively that a firearms owner in B.C. got his new firearms licence and was shocked to find someone else's picture on it. How would the justice minister like it if her face showed up on someone else's firearms licence?"

Hon. Anne McLellan (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): "Mr. Speaker, our firearms registry system is working quite well, thank you very much. Let me inform the House that we have since September 1 received and answered over 160,000 phone calls, mailed over 250,000 forms to individuals, processed 40,000 applications for licences and registration, issued over 17,000 registration certificate numbers and issued over 12,000 photo ID licences."

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The Office of Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.