LIBERALS HIDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN SPENDING ON GUN REGISTRY

Yorkton – "Open government will be the watchword of the Liberal program," promised the 1993 Liberal Red Book (page 92). "Six years have passed and we’re still waiting," reported Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville." What disturbed Breitkreuz this time was the appalling lack of detail in Part III of the Department of Justice estimates for the 1999/2000 fiscal year. "Every year it’s the same, the government tables estimates in the House of Commons, but the lack of detail makes it impossible for anyone to tell what they’re spending the public’s money on," reported Breitkreuz. "Last year, we had to wait until a Justice official reported in the media that the Liberals were spending $133.9 million implementing the new firearm registry. Even then we couldn’t get the detail about where and how these millions were being spent without filing an Access to Information Request. If the Minister of Justice is so proud of her new registry, why is she hiding the truth about how much it’s costing?"

The government calls Part III of the Estimates, Report on Plans and Priorities 1999-2000. "If they don’t provide enough budget information, how can Canadians see that ‘programs are cost-effective’ as the Minister promises in her message on page 1?" asked Breitkreuz. "On page 2, the Deputy Minister of Justice goes on to promise that the report is ‘comprehensive and accurate’, however, the key cost information that the public, the media and opposition parties need to determine if this is true, is hidden from the public. This makes the report a sham."

"In the report, the Minister proudly repeats her government’s propaganda: ‘Reduction of the incidence of violent crime through the implementation of firearms control measures.’ An interesting statement considering the RCMP recently admitted that they don’t even keep statistics on whether firearms used in the commitment of crimes are registered or not. The Minister also conveniently ignores telling the public how much the Liberal ‘gun control measures’ are going to cost," revealed Breitkreuz. "Last summer a Justice Dept. official reported to the media that the new firearm registry will cost $50 to $60 million a year to operate. This year’s detailed estimates only provide information on spending of a little over $10 million. Where’s the other $40 to $50 million being spent? The public has a right to know!"

In an Access to Information Request, Breitkreuz asked the RCMP how much they were spending to implement and enforce Bill C-68, the Firearms Act. The RCMP responded that Dept. of Justice "handle all expenses, including RCMP generated expenses and they are all project related at this time." The RCMP told Breitkreuz to ask the Dept. of Justice for the information regarding "implementation and enforcement of the government’s gun control laws." The RCMP did reveal one important piece of information. The average number of full time employees working for the RCMP in the Canadian Firearm Registry has jumped from 40 in 1995/96 to 190 in 1998/99. And, that doesn’t account for the RCMP personnel working in the provinces that have opted out of the administration of the Firearms Act. "That’s a lot of full time RCMP pushing paper instead of patrolling our streets and highways," concluded Breitkreuz, "Remember when former Justice Minister Allan Rock promised that no police would be removed from the street to implement the firearm registry?"

For more information, please call:

Yorkton Office: (306) 782-3309
Ottawa Office: (613) 992-4394
e-mail: breitg0@parl.gc.ca

Firearms: The firearms system went into effect December 1, 1998. Follow-up on all proclaimed sections of the Firearms Act and Regulations is now underway. The Treasury Board has granted authority to the Department of Justice to enter into the necessary operational agreements with the provinces and federal partners that will ensure long-term administration of this initiative.(Page 18)

Expected Results - Implementing the government’s safety and security agenda through a balanced approach to criminal justice (Page 18)

• Youth justice reform;
• Innovative partnerships and citizen involvement to develop a wide societal strategy to deal with crime and violence;
• Crime prevention;
• efficiency and effectiveness through criminal procedure reform measures to deal with global crime;
• Reduction of the incidence of violent crime through the implementation of firearms control measures; and
• Development and implementation of measures that are consistent with public safety to decrease reliance on costly correctional systems.

Illicit Firearms Trafficking: A key goal of the new firearms legislation is to combat the illicit trafficking of firearms. Countries cannot deal with this phenomenon, frequently connected with organized crime, in isolation and high levels of international cooperation are needed. To support Canada’s domestic effort the Department is playing a leadership role in the development of a new firearms protocol against illicit firearms trafficking which is to be part of the UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention. (Page 20)

Contributions to the provinces and territories for the Firearms Program (Page 33)

Forcast Spending 1998/99 - $20,390,074

Planned Spending 1999/2000 - $10,390,330

Planned Spending 2000/01 - $33,509,928