| NOTE
#1: Versions of this Canadian Press story also ran in the following
papers: Toronto Star, Calgary Sun, Edmonton Sun, Winnipeg Sun, New Brunswick
Telegraph-Journal, Le Droit, Le Nouvelliste (Trois-Rivières), and
La Presse.
NOTE #2: Garry’s quotes in this article are correct but at no time did he refer to his informal discussions with Ministers Vic Toews and Stockwell Day as a “committee”. This was the reporter’s invention and the Prime Minister’s Office did not make such an announcement. PUBLICATION: WINNIPEG
FREE PRESS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tories want gun registry killed fast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CP Wire Dan Dugas OTTAWA -- The Conservative government has created a committee of two cabinet ministers and a backbencher to figure out how best to kill the long-gun registry as soon as possible. Registry critic Garry Breitkreuz, who is working with Justice Minister Vic Toews and Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, said he has been given wide leeway to deal swiftly with the registry. "I wouldn't be fighting for what I'm fighting for if I didn't think that would be the case," the Saskatchewan MP said in an interview. "We couldn't have had two better appointments because they're giving me the opportunities to put in place whatever is needed to stop the flow of money right now." Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised voters during the election campaign that the long-gun registry would be scrapped and money redirected to public safety. In Winnipeg last night, the head of the police association applauded the move. "We've always been against the long-gun registry -- that's the aspect of the program with the ballooning costs. It's $2 billion plus," Winnipeg Police Association president Loren Schinkel said. But the city's police chief Jack Ewatski just last month urged the new Tory government to hold up on their campaign promise to scrap the much maligned system. Ewatski couldn't be reached last night for comment. Schinkel said last night the rank and file feel the money spent registering hunting rifles would be better used to boost front-line policing in cities like Winnipeg. Brian Buckley of Oak Lake, Man., is among the millions of Canadians who essentially dared the federal government to arrest them for refusing to register hunting rifles. Last night, the gun enthusiast said Harper is hobbled by a minority government so this move means a long slow death, not a quick execution, for the hated registry. "If they had a majority it would be a lot simpler. They'll get rid of it by starving it for money and it will just disappear," Buckley said. Buckley was hailed as a hero when he set out to prove the registry was absurd by successfully registering his Black and Decker soldering gun but none of his eight guns, including antique rifles. "The soldering gun's registered and it's still there. The RCMP know I have other guns but they've never bothered me." When the Liberals added the registry to the federal gun control program in 1995, they said it would cost taxpayers no more than $2 million. But the most recent estimates put the figure in the hundreds of millions of dollars, bringing the total cost of the gun program to more than $1 billion. The Conservatives have called the registry a waste of taxpayers money that targets duck hunters rather than criminals. Breitkreuz would say little about how the government will kill the registry while maintaining background checks it promised on would-be gun owners. "I still have to work through Stockwell Day and Vic Toews so I can't tip my hand as to what we're doing but we're working on that." The Tories promised to reinvest savings from scrapping the gun registry into hiring police and assisting victims of crime, but may find there is less cash available than meets the eye. The gun program consumes about $90 million a year in direct costs while a single campaign promise to hire an additional 1,000 Mounties would add $50 million to the federal payroll. There are no cost estimates on campaign promises such as defending victims' rights and improving gun safety. -- Canadian Press / with files from Alexandra Paul ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PUBLICATION: Le Droit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trois conservateurs verront à abolir le registre des armes à feu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Le gouvernement conservateur a créé un comité réunissant deux ministres et un député afin de déterminer comment éliminer le plus rapidement possible le registre des armes à feu. Garry Breitkreutz, porte-parole conservateur du dossier, travaillera avec le ministre de la Justice, Vic Toews, et le ministre de la Sécurité publique, Stockwell Day. M. Breitkreuz a affirmé qu'il disposait de la marge de manoeuvre nécessaire pour régler cette question rapidement. "Je ne défendrais pas cette cause aussi ardemment s'il en était autrement, a déclaré le député de la Saskatchewan, lors d'une entrevue. "On ne pouvait avoir deux meilleures nominations parce qu'ils me donnent l'occasion de mettre en place tout ce qu'il faut pour arrêter cette hémorragie financière." Durant la dernière campagne électorale, le premier ministre Stephen Harper a promis d'abolir le registre fédéral des armes à feu et d'attribuer son budget à la sécurité publique. En 1995, lorsque les libéraux ont ajouté le registre au programme fédéral de contrôle des armes à feu, ils ont affirmé qu'il n'en coûterait pas plus de 2 millions $ aux contribuables. Mais les estimations les plus récentes indiquent que ce chiffre s'élève plutôt à quelques centaines de millions de dollars, portant le coût total du programme à plus de 1 milliard $. Les conservateurs ont soutenu que le registre fédéral était un gaspillage de fonds publics ciblant les chasseurs de canard au lieu des criminels. M. Breitkreuz a donné peu d'information sur la façon dont le gouvernement entend abolir le registre tout en réalisant sa promesse d'effectuer des vérifications à propos des personnes qui ont l'intention d'acheter des armes à feu. "J'ai encore du travail à faire avec Stockwell Day et Vic Toews, ce qui m'empêche de dire ce que nous allons faire exactement, mais nous travaillons là-dessus", a-t-il dit. Les conservateurs ont promis de réaffecter les sommes économisées par l'abolition du registre à l'embauche de nouveaux policiers ainsi qu'à l'aide aux victimes de crimes mais leurs ambitions pourraient se heurter à la réalité. Les coûts annuels directs du programme de contrôle des armes à feu s'élèvent à 90 millions $, tandis que la seule promesse des conservateurs d'embaucher 1 000 agents de la GRC supplémentaires coûterait 50 millions $ par année à l'État canadien. |