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

Breitkreuz Requests Auditor General to Uncover Total Costs of C-68
"The government either doesn’t know what C-68 will cost or they’re hiding the truth from Canadians."

For Immediate Delivery

April 23, 1998

Ottawa Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville picked a new target for his four year old battle with the federal government over the onerous gun control provisions of Bill C-68. "Passed in 1995, this complex 137 page bill now has 140 additional pages of mind-numbing regulations. Despite the fact that it is scheduled to come into force on October 1, 1998, the government can’t even tell taxpayers how much it’s going to cost to implement and operate," reported Breitkreuz.

Breitkreuz sent a twenty page background paper with 30 supporting documents to the Auditor General for Canada requesting a forensic audit. Here are some excerpts from his letter:

"As you can see from the more than twenty major cost issues described in the paper, this is a far more complex question than the Department of Justice officials maintain. The written estimates are appallingly short of details and when the Minister and her officials appeared before the Standing Committee on Justice on Monday, April 20, 1998, the government failed to answer even the most rudimentary questions regarding costs."

"It is truly unfortunate that the government has all but completely ignored your 1993 recommendations regarding gun control programs. Not only have they not properly evaluated the effectiveness of the gun control provisions passed in previous legislation but they also proceeded to implement even more complex laws and regulations on an uninformed and unsuspecting public. The government’s actions to date suggest they are trying their best to keep both Parliamentarians and the public in the dark as to the true costs and consequences of these laws."

"All the government will say is that it’s going to cost more than the original estimate of $85 million provided to Parliament in 1995. RCMP experts say there may be as many as 25 million firearms in Canada not 6 million as the Department of Justice claims. Four provinces refuse to administer the gun control law. The vast majority of serving RCMP and police patrolling our city streets are now opposed to Bill C-68. These are just a few of the issues affecting costs which we have asked the Auditor General to answer", said Breitkreuz. "If we’ve missed any areas of concern, I ask taxpayers to write the Auditor General directly and send copies of your letters to the Justice Minister and to me. Together we can and will force the government to tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

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For a copy of Breitkreuz’ paper, please contact:

The Office of Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.

Ottawa office: (613) 992-4394

Yorkton Office: (306) 782-3309