PUBLICATION:  The Moncton Times and Transcript

DATE:  2003.02.05

SECTION:  Opinion

PAGE:  D7

COLUMN:  Editorials

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Registry farce

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The federal government, despite releasing two expensive reports into the gun registry fiasco, has yet to explain to Canadians how what should have been a $2 million program managed to cost taxpayers almost a billion dollars. And now it is saying we may not know until next fall. That is not good enough. It smacks of political delay and politicians hoping the questions will fade away. They won't.

Canadians deserve an explanation of why this program went off the rails and why it cost so much. They deserve an explanation of why the brakes were not put on when it became obvious the program was out of control and clearly not working. And it deserves an explanation of why, despite all the evidence that the registry is a failure, a waste of tax money, and unable to achieve the policy objectives intended, the government continues to insist on forging ahead, throwing good money after bad.

Two "expert" reports and $142,000 later and Canadians are still none the wiser. This is not good government, it's farce.