Liberal Math Just Doesn't Add Up

Minister pulled request for additional $72 Million; initial budget was $113.5 Million

Yesterday, the House of Commons forced the government to yank a request for an extra $72 million to be spent on the hopelessly mismanaged firearms registry. Now, the Liberal Government has decided to sic its public servants from the Justice Department onto Canada's newspaper editors, to do the Liberals' dirty work for them and spin, spin, spin. What are they saying? That the $72 million request was part of the original budget for the firearms registry, and was not new cash.

Here are the facts:

• Part III of the Report on Plans and Priorities from Treasury Board (released March 21, 2002) stated that the Justice Department would spend $113.5 million in the 2002-03 fiscal year on the Firearms Control Program.
• The government confirmed this in response to Question 131 on the order paper on April 24, 2002. That response stated that the Canadian Firearms Centre's budget allocation for fiscal year 2002-03 is $113..5 million.
• The government tabled supplementary estimates six months later, on October 31, 2002, asking for an additional $72 million. That was yesterday's scheduled vote.

To state that the $72 million was part of the initial budget allocation really strains the Government's credibility. October comes after March; and if you add 72 to 113, you get a number that's higher than 113.

Rather than come clean about how much they're wasting, the Liberals are furiously back-pedaling on the firearms registry money pit. But the facts speak for themselves. Besides, wasn't the whole thing supposed to cost a mere $2-million anyway?