2010-08 (August)
Blaine Calkins MP Report
August
Long Gun Registry Update
Getting tough on crime and criminals has been a priority for our Government. We strongly believe that the justice system must not put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of law-abiding citizens.
In 1995, the Department of Justice reported to Parliament that the proposed Liberal Long-Gun Registry would cost $119 million to implement, and that the income generated from licensing fees would be $117 million with a net cost of $2 million.
By December 2002, the Auditor-General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, reported that the registry was running vastly above initial cost estimates. The report shows that the implementation of the firearms registry program by the Department of Justice has had significant strategic and management problems throughout. Taxpayers were originally expected to pay only $2 million of the budget while registration fees would cover the rest.
At the time of the 2002 audit, the revised estimates from the Department of Justice were that the cost of the program would be more than $1 billion by 2004/05 and that the income from license fees in the same period would be $140 million. Our Party was against it many years ago and remains committed to scrapping the registry. We have always advocated that the money could be better spent on front line police officers and prosecutors and going after real criminal activity.
Since we formed government in 2006, we have had several government bills introduced to repeal the long gun registry laws. We have also put in place an amnesty to protect law abiding citizens from prosecution, as well as refunded fees associated with the registry. The Liberal – NDP – Bloc coalition, however, promised to defeat the legislation if it was brought forward for a vote.
My colleague Candice Hoeppner’s Private Members Bill (C-391) proposes to repeal the Liberal long gun registry. Despite every other party leader in the House of Commons opposing the bill, Bill C-391 passed second reading in the House of Commons in November 2009 by a vote of 164 to 137 due to 8 Liberal MP's, 12 New Democrats and one independent voting with the minority Conservative government.
This sent the bill to a legislative committee, where it faced intense opposition from the opposition committee members. The Bill is now out of committee and poised for a vote soon after parliament resumes this fall.
In response to Liberal MP's breaking party ranks to support Bill C-391, Liberal Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff announced on April 19, 2010 that Liberal MP's are whipped to vote against C-391 and other proposals by the Conservative government to kill the Liberal long-gun registry.
Our Government firmly believes that our laws should target criminals, not law-abiding citizens. They should promote safe streets, not penalize the lawful activities of hunters and rural Canadians. Rest assured that we will continue our efforts to repeal the long gun registry.
Please contact my Constituency office for assistance or for information on federally related matters, postage free at: #6, 4612 - 50th Street, Ponoka, T4J 1S7. Tel: (403) 783-5530; toll free: 1-800-665-0865 or visit my web site: www.blainecalkinsmp.ca