PUBLICATION:              Edmonton Journal

DATE:                         2004.05.21

EDITION:                    Final

SECTION:                  News

PAGE:                         A1 / Front

BYLINE:                     James Baxter and Joel Kom

SOURCE:                   CanWest News Service

DATELINE:                 EDMONTON

ILLUSTRATION:                             Colour Photo: Larry Wong, The Journal / Deputy PrimeMinister Anne McLellan announces changes to the firearms registry program. 

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Alberta shoots down Ottawa's 'disappointing' gun registry reforms: $25M a year could have been spent fighting crime, provincial justice minister says

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EDMONTON - Ottawa missed an opportunity to either scrap its controversial firearms registry or make significant improvements to it, says Alberta Justice Minister David Hancock.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced Thursday that the government remains committed to its gun registry, but that it has plans to cut costs by capping the annual cost at $25 million and eliminating fees for registering a gun.

"I think the announcement was one of the most disappointing that we could have heard from the federal government in the area of gun control," said Hancock. "It's an opportunity lost."

The government will also reduce to summary convictions -- or ticketable offences -- the penalty for possessing unregistered firearms.

However, if returned to power, the Liberals also plan to enact legislation stiffening jail terms for people convicted of committing crimes with firearms, trafficking in illegal weapons, or possessing loaded handguns in public places.

The Criminal Code will also be changed to give judges greater latitude to order firearms confiscated in cases of domestic violence.

Hancock said he supports strengthening the law against offences such as weapons trafficking, but he said the $25 million that the registry will continue to cost will do nothing to improve police or public safety.

"They could have spent that money fighting crime and making our communities safer. Those resources could be used in our court system and in our justice system to really do something valuable. It's a sad thing that they've missed that opportunity to really do some good works."  

Hancock said the province will continue to refuse to prosecute Albertans who do not comply with the registry.

McLellan, who faces a tough re-election battle in her Edmonton Centre riding, admitted that the Liberals could probably have helped her fortunes and those of the party in the West had it scrapped all or part of the registry, but that would have been a bad decision for the country.

"It's not about gaining favour, it's about good public policy," she said. "And it's about a very strong commitment to public safety. It's not about gaining a political point here or there.

"I think Canadians would find that profoundly offensive."

She said the government is committed to streamlining its registry program and improving public safety.

The government's resolve earned praise from police and gun-control

advocates. "We're very pleased (with the tougher criminal provisions). We've lobbied hard for this," said Chief Edgar McLeod, President of the Canadian

Association of Chiefs of Police and chief of the Cape Breton Regional Police Service. He highlighted provisions allowing lifetime bans on firearms and taking

domestic abuse into account as significant improvements. "I think this is something that will enhance public safety."

Jan Reimer, provincial co-ordinator for the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, agrees. "We're very pleased they're toughening the gun crime provisions in the Criminal Code," she said. But critics charge the new measures are little more than a pre-election ploy that will do little to reduce public dissatisfaction and resentment with the program.

"It seems to me they're trying to deal with the issue of cost," said Kevin Haggerty, a criminologist at the University of Alberta.

"I don't think they've actually dealt with the deep resentment. People who are opposed to the gun registry are going to be opposed even if it's free."

Peter MacKay, deputy leader of the Conservative party, called the changes to the gun registry cosmetic, adding that nothing short of scrapping the program is acceptable.

"This a political face-saving, rear-end covering exercise," said MacKay. "What you're seeing is damage control, an attempt to somehow say they can soften the impact of this fraud."

McLellan said she is disappointed that some provinces continue to refuse to prosecute people who fail to register their weapons, but insisted the federal government will not stand down.

Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, who will be in charge of ensuring the registry keeps to a $25-million spending limit, admitted the government has had enormous problems controlling costs on the program, but believes the right management framework is now in place. 

"Where we lost ground on this was just on the cost containment," said Alcock "This thing got away from us. We had problems. We tried to rein it in. We were not successful."

With files by Larry Johnsrude

jbaxter@thejournal.canwest.com

jkom@thejournal.canwest.com