38^th Parliament, 1^st Session

Edited Hansard • Number 034

Monday, November 29, 2004

Questions on the Order Paper

    Hon. Raymond Simard (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Minister responsible for Official Languages and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 17 and 18.

[Text

Question No. 18--

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz:

    Having regard to statements made by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on May 20, 2004, that funding for the Firearms Registry component of the Program will be capped at $25 million per year, starting next fiscal year: (a) what has been the total cost of the firearms program for each year since 1995; (b) how much was spent on the firearms owner licencing component of the program for each year since 1995; (c) how much was spent on the registration component of the program for each year since 1995; (d) how much will it cost to implement fully all components of the firearms program; (e) when will the firearms program be fully implemented; and (f) how much will it cost to maintain the firearms program each year after it is fully implemented?

Hon. Roy Cullen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.):

    Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the total cost of the firearms program for each year since 1995 is:

     * Includes indirect costs for the period of 1995-96 to 2001-02. Indirect costs are program costs incurred by other government departments that are not reimbursed by CAFC.

    In response to (b), the cost for the licensing component of the program since 1995 is:

     * Costs of licensing component by fiscal year not available for the period of 1995-96 to 2001-02.

    In response to (c), the cost for the registration component of the program since 1995-96 is:

     * Costs of Registration component by fiscal year not available for the period of 1995-96 to 2000-01.

    Note: Past calculations for (b) and (c) were based on management estimates of activity and attribution of indirect costs to various program elements. CAFC is currently developing a detailed costing methodology to support a voted appropriation specifically for firearms registration activities that will be introduced in 2005-06. This methodology will be adopted for all future reporting.

    In response to (d), it is expected to implement all components of the firearms program within the proposed $85 million annual funding level beginning in 2005-06.

    In response to (e), Bill C-10A passed in May 2003. Proposed regulatory changes to implement the new legislation and to make the amendments to the regulations to support public safety and effective program administration were tabled in June 2003. Stakeholders and the public were consulted in the fall of 2003 and during the ministerial review of the program in early 2004. Parliamentary committees considered the proposals in the fall of 2003. Final changes to the regulations are to be made, including: import/export regulations; public agent regulations; firearms marking regulations; and changes to other regulations, e.g., licensing, gun shows.

    It is anticipated that all components of the firearms program now planned or under development will be fully implemented by December 31, 2007.

    In response to (f), as per the May 20, 2004 announcement by the government, funding for the Canada Firearms Centre will decline to $85 million in 2005-06 and beyond. This amount does not include indirect costs incurred by other federal departments. It does not include revenues from firearms licensing and other fees that are collected over the course of the fiscal year.

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