Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.
Yorkton-Melville		 News Release

Economic Costs of C-68 Now Hitting Home

"Liberals are killing thousands of jobs with laws and regulations that make no sense."

For Immediate Delivery

February 20, 1998

Ottawa-- Today, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville took time to say, "I told you so," to the Liberal government. This week Donna Ferolie, President of the Twin Sault Trap Association came to Ottawa to inform the Northern Ontario Liberal Caucus of how much Bill C-68 is going to cost her community. She came to Ottawa, she saw Liberals and went home without answers to her questions and very little sympathy for her trouble. "The Liberals were warned in 1995 during debate and public hearings that there was a huge economic downside to Bill C-68. Jobs, businesses and whole communities will now suffer because of this Liberal lack of foresight and planning," said Breitkreuz.

Ferolie’s 10 page presentation is loaded with facts about how just two provisions in Bill C-68 will devastate border towns and northern businesses and communities and do nothing to improve public safety. She looked at the proposed fees to be levied on non-residents entering Canada with firearms, and the overly complicated procedures proposed for residents and non-residents crossing the Canada-US border with legally-owned firearms to be used for hunting and sporting purposes. Her report details the impact that these two provisions will have on Canadian residents, American citizens, on Canada Customs operations and the economic and cultural impacts.

Ferolie’s analysis shows more common-sense than anything government has yet produced on the economic impact of their flawed legislation. Here are some of the things she found out:

(1) Customs officials estimate that it will take at least 30 minutes per firearm each way to do all the checking and recording demanded by the regulations.

(2) The new Customs regime will be no more effective and far more costly than the current Y38 card system.

(3) Hundreds of thousands of border crossings will be stalled inconveniencing all travelers to and from the States.

(4) The half-hour hassle at the border and the $50 a year fee for U.S. sport shooters and hunters will dramatically reduce the number of American tourists.

(5) Boycotts by American sport shooters are being actively promoted in the U.S.A.

(6) Tens of millions will be lost to the northern Ontario economy, businesses will go bankrupt and fifty year old shooting clubs will die.

Breitkreuz thanked Donna Ferolie for her courage in coming forward with her report. "I invite all citizens, business owners, shooting clubs, chambers of commerce, anyone, to provide me with first hand accounts of how the implementation of Bill C-68 will affect them personally, their businesses, their clubs, and their communities. I will pass every letter on to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Industry to show them how their policies are killing jobs in Canada - not creating them," promised Breitkreuz.

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For a copy of Donna Ferolie’s presentation please contact:

The Office Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309
Ottawa: (613) 992-4394