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CHRONIQUES PLEIN AIR Elimination in the
near future of federal registration of hunters and their shotguns and
rifles. A column by André A. Bellemare, published on 06-01-25 There’s no doubt that millions of Canadian hunters have a smile on their lips and joy in their hearts now that Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has taken power in the House of Commons in Ottawa. The leaders of that national political party often promised — and even officially included the promise in their party platform — that they would eliminate the federal system for registering honest Canadian citizens who possess firearms to hunt and/or shoot or as part of a collection. This concerns at least two million of the country’s citizens, and at least six million shotguns and rifles. If the Conservative Party of Canada government headed by Stephen Harper wants a quick way to establish its credibility with Canadians, while affirming its authority over the public service, it should move very soon to eliminate the federal system for registering hunters and their firearms. If it does not do so, it will be earn the scorn of its supporters... It must prove that it does not make empty promises and that it is always prepared to implement its election platform. There is every reason to believe that Garry Breitkreuz, the Conservative MP re-elected in the riding of Yorkton-Melville, Saskatchewan, will make all this clear to Stephen Harper, his leader and the new prime minister-designate of Canada. For Breitkreuz has spent over a decade patiently and painstakingly pointing out all the absolutely ridiculous aspects of the excessively costly federal “gun control” procedure established by Jean Chretien’s Liberal Party of Canada and maintained by his successor, Paul Martin, who has resigned now that the LPC has lost power. Conservative MP Breitkreuz has reason to be proud of helping to elect his Conservative colleagues in all parts of Canada. Breitkreuz’s influence was even felt in Quebec: gun owners, and hunters in particular, often told me they would vote for CPC candidates because of Breitkreuz’s efforts to have the promise to eliminate the registration of hunters and their firearms included in his party’s official election platform. In our province, the Liberal Party of Canada — and the Bloc Québécois, which has always been in bed with the Liberals on gun control — must now be kicking themselves for not having listened more attentively to what millions of Canadian hunters have been telling them, for the past 12 years, about the ridiculous and scandalous federal procedure for registering honest citizens who own and use these firearms. We were delighted to learn of the defeat of Liberal minister Anne McLellan — MP for a riding located in the city of Edmonton, Alberta — who so often mocked the millions of hunters in Canada and Conservative MP Breitkreuz, who came to their defence in the House of Commons. McLellan, Paul Martin’s deputy prime minister, listened only to the representatives of the Canadian Coalition for Gun Control, founded by Wendy Cuckier. Under the Liberals, the federal government paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Cuckier and her so-called “coalition” to go in front of the lights, cameras and microphones to speak in favour of the Liberal procedure for registering hunters and their firearms. It is almost certain that the new federal government will not waste hundreds of thousands of dollars lining the pockets of Wendy Cuckier and her friends. Stephen Harper, guided in this matter by Garry Breitkreuz, will undoubtedly pay particularly close attention to the next report from Sheila Fraser, Canada’s Auditor General, who is preparing to reveal very surprising information about the management of two billion dollars wasted, over the past 10 years, registering Canadian hunters and their firearms. The Conservative Party of Canada has already explained to the public that the now-famous “sponsorship scandal” — which the Bloc Québécois has been getting a lot of “mileage” out of for at least two years — was only a “corner store robbery” compared to the “bank heist” that the scandal of the registration of hunters and their firearms appears to be... Will the Conservatives go so far as to initiate an investigation of the gun registration scandal like the one conducted by Justice Gomery in the sponsorship scandal? We will see in the coming months! One thing is certain, it is essential that the Conservative Party of Canada do everything necessary to stop throwing billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money down the financial sinkhole that the federal procedure for registering hunters and their firearms has become. The CPC must do everything it takes to stop the Liberal Party of Canada’s “professional mourners” from making naive people in this country believe that the Liberal “gun control” procedure is a good thing. All this procedure has managed to do so far is to stuff money into the pockets of friends of the Liberal Party of Canada while hurting a multitude of businesses across the country (hunting equipment stores, hunting and fishing outfitters, shooting clubs, etc.) and throwing roadblocks in the way of the next generation of recreational hunters in Canada. In regions far from the major urban centres, where most of the country’s hunters are to be found, the harmful effects of the restrictions on Canadians’ possession and use of hunting firearms has been keenly felt. It is in the Conservative Party of Canada’s interest to correct the situation, especially if it wants voters to keep supporting it enthusiastically. The Conservative Party must go back to what it itself created a quarter of a century ago, that is, the “firearms acquisition certificate” (FAC). This system cost almost nothing: it was hunters, not all the taxpayers of Canada, who kept it afloat! During the past decade, hunters themselves often told the Liberal Party of Canada that the Canadian government should re-establish the old system that the Conservatives created. It would have been simple to do! Too simple perhaps. We will see. The time has finally come for Canada’s federal government to stop annoying honest citizens who legally own and use firearms to hunt or shoot, or as part of a collection: worry about the criminals! The party of Stephen Harper, who made the promise and put it in the party platform, will finally spend our money to hire more police officers and equip them better to more effectively fight criminals and street gangs! We will really enjoy seeing this happen. The sooner, the better! Mr. André-A Bellemare
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