Canadian gun registry likely to cost $1 billion

[spectr17]

Gun registry to cost around $1-billion

By KIM LUNMAN, Globe and Mail (Toronto)

November 28, 2002

OTTAWA -- Canada's firearms registry will likely cost taxpayers more than $1-billion by 2005 -- more than 10 times the amount the Liberal government said it would spend on the controversial gun-control program.

Treasury Board officials expressed concern about the rising costs of the national registry for firearms at a meeting of the Senate committee on national finance.

Richard Neville, deputy comptroller of the Treasury Board Secretariat, told the committee this week that "there is a strong possibility that the final costs" of the firearms registry could be around $1-billion.

He made the remarks under questioning from senators who wanted to know why the Department of Justice is requiring an additional $72-million to administer the program that implements the government's tough gun-control laws passed in 1995. Former justice minister Allan Rock said the national firearms registry would cost taxpayers a total of $85-million when Bill C-68 became law seven years ago.

Mr. Neville told the committee members that it is expected that the government will have spent $810.8-million on the program by the end of 2002-2003. Among the costs was $29-million for communications and public affairs, which includes advertising. The central processing site in Miramichi received $59-million while the RCMP received $64-million.

"From the Treasury Board Secretariat perspective, we are very concerned about this file," Mr. Neville told the committee when asked about the cost overruns.

The cost of the national firearms registry is expected be scrutinized in the Auditor-General's report, to be released next Tuesday.

But Senator Anne Cools, a Liberal member of the Senate's finance committee, said she wants answers from Justice Minister Martin Cauchon.

"Something is very wrong," she said in an interview yesterday. "There has been no accountability. We still have no idea why it has cost so much and why it has ballooned."

The government is hoping to pass Bill C-10 (a), which amends the Firearms Act, before the end of the year. Among other things, the bill would create a national firearms commissioner and stagger licence renewals.

All Canadian gun owners must have their firearms registered by Jan. 1, 2003.

But gun-control advocates have defended the program, saying what it will save by preventing crimes involving guns will far outweigh the spending overrun.

The price tag

Officials estimate the gun registry will cost $810.8-million by 2002-2003. So far, $688-million has been spent. A partial breakdown:

Program administration: $66-million;

Communications, public affairs and advertising: $29-million;

Outreach program: $15-million;

Safety training: $9-million;

Licensing and registration datadate: $227-million.

[JBarn3]

Program administration: $66-million;

Communications, public affairs and advertising: $29-million;

Outreach program: $15-million;

Safety training: $9-million;

Licensing and registration database: $227-million.

Gun Registration: WORTHLESS

[DKScott]

Yeah, but it's only $1.98 American...

[Kernhuntr]

Senator refuses to back gun bill



By KIM LUNMAN
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 – Page A8


OTTAWA -- A Liberal senator wants Inuit people to be exempt from Canada's controversial gun-control laws and said he will refuse to "rubber-stamp" a new firearms bill.

"Our right to life is not being recognized," Senator Charlie Watt, an aboriginal from northern Quebec, said in an interview. "It's a different world where we are."

Mr. Watt, who was a hunter before he was appointed to the Senate in 1984, is among a group of senators opposing Bill C-10 (a), amending the Firearms Act.

Mr. Watt said the Liberal government "wanted us basically to rubber-stamp [the legislation] and send it back to the House of Commons."

Among other things, the amendments would create an Office of the Firearms Commissioner to administer the national gun registry and would also stagger firearm licence renewals.

Mr. Watt says aboriginal people cannot afford the cost of registering all their guns.

The issue has touched off debate since the Senate took the unusual procedural step last week of splitting legislation passed by the House of Commons as Bill C-10 into two: a section on the Firearms Act, Bill C-10 (a); and a section to stiffen penalties in the Criminal Code for animal cruelty, which is now C-10 (b).

Mr. Watt accused the Liberal government of trying to sneak the controversial Firearms Act through with the animal cruelty legislation, which is widely supported. The law would increase jail sentences for animal abuse under the Criminal Code to a maximum penalty of five years. The longest penalty now is six months.

The proposed Firearms Act revisits the government's contentious gun-control laws, among the most strict in the world. Bill C-68, passed in 1995, requires all firearms in Canada to be registered in a national database by Jan. 1, 2003.

Opposition to the new bill in the Senate could dash the government's hopes of passing the legislation before the end of the year.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said an exemption for natives is unlikely. "As far as the minister is concerned, the act applies to everybody, including aboriginal peoples," Mike Murphy said.

The gun law, however, makes some exceptions for aboriginal firearm owners. Natives seeking firearm licences can apply orally and with the help of a translator. There is also no minimum age for native minors seeking licences for traditional hunting practices.

"The Inuit people are making a living from hunting," Mr. Watt said. "That's the only way for them to put bread and butter on the table. The people up here in the North have 10 or more rifles. It costs money they don't have for them to register their firearms."

He is joined in his opposition to Bill C-10 (b) by Liberal Senator Willie Adams, of Nunavut territory, and Liberal Senator Anne Cools of Toronto.

"Bill C-68 has shown itself to be catastrophic," Ms. Cools said. "There's a host of unanswered questions. Senators want answers and senators are not going to accept being dismissed."

Progressive Conservative Senator Terrance Stratton, of Red River, Manitoba, has also voiced his opposition to Bill C-10 (a).

Opponents have questioned the ballooning costs of implementing the national registry, which critics say will cost hundreds of millions more than expected.

[MudMagnet]

lol....................o its great............... serves them right to try an make us regester our guns.......... they put me through hell......... fawk, i still didn't get all the FIN numbers for my guns.........

[shaginator]

This is some the stuff gun rights groups warn us about. Now, there's a definitive case study up north that provides proof.

[Kernhuntr]

Gun registry scaled back after funding problems
Last Updated Fri, 13 Dec 2002 8:39:05
OTTAWA - The federal government, under pressure for overspending on the national gun registry, says it's going to scale back the program for the foreseeable future.


INDEPTH: Gun Control


Martin Cauchon
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon told Parliament on Thursday that he will freeze spending.

He said the program will continue to operate but at a minimum level.

But Cauchon did not explain how the registry can keep going after he withdrew a request for another $72 million in operating funds.

"We are looking within the Justice Department operating budgets to manage any shortfall in resources until my review is complete," he said.


Alliance wants program scrapped

But opponents of the gun-control measure say the whole thing should be scrapped.
"He continues to defend a program Parliament now refused to fund," said Canadian Alliance member of Parliament Garry Breitkreuz.

Cauchon says any decision to go after more money will be made openly, with full accounting to Parliament.

NDP MP Bill Blaikie says that, at least, is an improvement.

"He's done a lot for transparency by so transparently engaging in an act of damage control," he said.

The government came under fire when the cost to taxpayers of the gun registry ballooned from a projected $2 million to about $860 million.