FIREARMS
FACTS UPDATE
McLELLAN
DECLARES $42 MILLION TO BE SPENT ON CRIMINAL USE OF GUNS A "CABINET
SECRET"
DECEMBER
14, 2004 – BREITKREUZ’S ATI REQUEST TO McLELLAN'S DEPARTMENT
On
December 8, 2004, in response to a question asked by MP Brad Trost, the Minister
of Public Safety stated: Just to give hon. members an idea of some of the
commitments that we have made, the investments in Canada's national police
force, recently we have invested an additional $112 million to fight organized
crime, $100 million to update criminal record and fingerprint analysis
technology, $42 million to address the criminal use of guns, $34 million to
address the criminal exploitation of--
Please provide copies of documents, reports, briefing notes and correspondence that shows how the $42 million is being spent or will be spent "to address the criminal use of guns," and how much the government has spent and will spend to address the "non-criminal use" of guns.
JANUARY
19, 2005 - REPLY FROM DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY [FILE:
1336-A-2004-0128]
"The
records pertaining to your request are excluded in their entirety pursuant to
sections 69(1)(a), 69(1)(c), and 69(1)(e) of the Access to Information Act.
Copies of the aforementioned sections are enclosed for your
reference." [See Cabinet confidences exclusion sections below]
JANUARY 27, 2005 – BREITKREUZ’S COMPLAINT TO INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Please
find attached copies of our original ATI request dated December 14, 2004 and the
department’s reply dated January 19, 2005.
How is it possible for the Minister to brag about an expenditure in the
House of Commons and then declare all the information about the expenditure a
Cabinet confidence? The government
is still keeping Parliament in the dark about both the expenditures and
effectiveness of the firearms program.
ACCESS
TO INFORMATION ACT
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/A-1/157.html
Confidences
of the Queen's Privy Council for
69.
(1)
This Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for
(a)
memoranda the purpose of which is to present proposals or recommendations to
Council;
(b)
discussion papers the purpose of which is to present background explanations,
analyses of problems or policy options to Council for consideration by Council
in making decisions;
(c)
agenda of Council or records recording deliberations or decisions of Council;
(d)
records used for or reflecting communications or discussions between ministers
of the Crown on matters relating to the making of government decisions or the
formulation of government policy;
(e)
records the purpose of which is to brief ministers of the Crown in relation to
matters that are before, or are proposed to be brought before, Council or that
are the subject of communications or discussions referred to in paragraph (d);
(f)
draft legislation; and
(g)
records that contain information about the contents of any record within a class
of records referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f).
Definition of "Council"
(2)
For the purposes of subsection (1), "Council" means the Queen's Privy
Council for Canada, committees of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Cabinet
and committees of Cabinet.
Exception
(3)
Subsection (1) does not apply to
(a)
confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada that have been in existence
for more than twenty years; or
(b)
discussion papers described in paragraph (1)(b)
(i)
if the decisions to which the discussion papers relate have been made public, or
(ii)
where the decisions have not been made public, if four years have passed since
the decisions were made.
R.S.,
1985, c. A-1, s. 69; 1992, c. 1, s. 144(F).