NOTE:
Versions
of this article also appeared in: The National Post, Vancouver Sun, Kingston
Whig-Standard, Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader Post, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton
Journal, Calgary Herald, Windsor Star
PUBLICATION:
The
StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
DATE: 2004.02.02
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
News
PAGE:
A1 / Front
BYLINE:
Tim Naumetz
SOURCE:
For CanWest News Service
DATELINE:
OTTAWA
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Gun
registry rests on free vote: 'Financial malnutrition' could kill beleaguered
program, MP contends
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OTTAWA
-- The final battle over the $1-billion federal gun registry is set to be waged
during the next two months, with a senior Liberal MP telling constituents he
believes the controversial program may die of "financial malnutrition"
after a free vote in the Commons.
Sarnia,
Ont., MP Roger Gallaway, designated by Prime Minister Paul Martin as the
parliamentary secretary for democratic reform, says he expects the government to
allow a free vote when a request for more funding is presented to parliament
during government estimates in March.
Saskatchewan
Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, who has relentlessly attacked the program over
the decade since it was launched by former prime minister Jean Chretien, says he
expects nearly 50 Liberal MPs will side with opposition Conservative MPs to
refuse the funding. NDP MPs from Western Canada may also vote against the
registry or abstain. Breitkreuz says several Bloc Quebecois MPs also oppose the
program and would vote against funding if they also have a free vote.
The
leading advocate for the registry, Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun
Control, calls the prospect of its demise "tragic" and accuses Martin
and his government of undermining the program through anonymous leaks about a
current review of the scheme. She also criticized the January declaration by
Albina Guarnieri, the minister for emergency preparedness who is reviewing the
program, that all options are open.
Cukier
expressed frustration at the meagre resources available to mount a last-minute
lobbying campaign to retain the program. She accused the government of failing
to communicate positive aspects to the public and MPs.
Gallaway,
who was threatened with expulsion from caucus when he and other Liberals
promised to vote against funding for the registry in the estimates last March,
disclosed what he believes are the government's plans for the scheme in a letter
to constituents last month.
"I
believe the real test for the National Firearms Program will come in February or
March when the Solicitor General's office asks for its annual operating
funds," Gallaway wrote in response to a letter from two constituents.
"Under the reforms being instituted by Mr. Martin it may be very well that
the firearms program will die of 'financial malnutrition,' that is no
money," Gallaway said in the two-sentence letter.
A
copy of the letter was obtained by Breitkreuz and his top aide fighting the
registry, former RCMP officer Dennis Young, who forwarded a copy to CanWest News
Service.
Gallaway
confirmed the authenticity of the letter, saying in an interview he believes the
government will allow backbenchers to vote freely on the program's estimates in
the spirit of democratic reform Martin outlined during his campaign for the
party leadership. Cabinet ministers may have to support the funding proposal.
Gallaway
recalled the anger of Liberal MPs last year when Chretien declared a vote on $59
million in supplementary estimates for the Canadian Firearms Centre would be a
vote of confidence in the government, meaning an election would have been called
had the motion been defeated.
"You
remember the great anxiety about that, the anger at the position taken by Mr.
Chretien that it was a question of confidence," said Gallaway. "My
view is that is no longer the case, that in fact what is going to happen is that
there is going to be an open debate about it and people are going to be allowed
to cast their judgment as to how much money this thing should get."
Gallaway
insisted he was not predicting the program will be scrapped: "I didn't say
(in the letter) it was going to go down, I said there was going to be a real
test of it."
A
spokesperson for Jacques Saada, the government House leader, said the operations
committee of cabinet, mandated to rule which motions and bills will be subject
to free votes under the Martin government, has not yet decided on the estimates
for the registry.
Martin
said during his leadership campaign that changes to the program last year in the
wake of a scathing report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser were insufficient.
He
said last month Canada must continue to register "weapons," but that
word left the door open to continue the decades-long practice of registering
handguns while ceasing the registration of rifles and shotguns that was
introduced by the Firearms Act when it took effect in 1998.
The
government phased the program in slowly after the legislation was first tabled
in February 1995, and nearly seven million firearms have now been registered.
The
program also requires stiff screening and training of all gun owners and buyers
before they are allowed to acquire or keep firearms.
Fraser
touched off a firestorm in December 2002, when she disclosed massive
overspending on the program, which the government originally said would cost
taxpayers $2 million once licensing and registration fee revenues were taken
into account.
The
latest government estimates are a total of $1 billion in costs by the next
fiscal year over the 10 years it has taken to implement the program. The program
now costs about $113 million annually.
While
gun owners support the licensing and safety aspects, most, especially in Western
Canada, fear eventual confiscation of sport and hunting rifles and shotguns and
incrementally higher fees for registration and licensing renewals.
Cukier
challenged Martin to maintain the program.
"I
think it would be tragic if Paul Martin's legacy was that he was the prime
minister who killed gun control in Canada," said Cukier, noting the bulk of
the cost over the last decade has been for setting up the registry's
sophisticated computer systems and for the licensing and screening of gun
owners.
"I
think the prime minister has to fish or cut bait," Cukier said in an
interview. "I think it's time for the prime minister to declare himself
very clearly on this issue."
Cukier
noted most provincial governments oppose the registry and have refused to take
part, thus adding to Ottawa's costs, and said even with the inadvertent warning
from Gallaway, she and other program supporters stand little chance of mounting
an effective lobbying campaign in the time left.
"With
what?" she said when asked whether the coalition and its members would try
to convince MPs to vote in favour of the program.
Breitkreuz
relished the thought of victory.
"I can't believe that it's gone on this long," he said. "Any way that we can stop a useless program is great. I think it should be a democratic vote."