Edmonton-based gun registration opponent Jim Hinter figures there is an
even chance that the gun control cost overrun fiasco in Ottawa will end
the program this winter.
What was promised as a gun registration system with a net cost of $2
million in 1994 has become an out-of-control bureaucratic monster with
a cost projected to be at least $1 billion by 2005, according to the
federal auditor general.
“The government has a chance here to abandon a lost cause,” the
Read Also
Final crop reports show strong yields, quality
Crops yielded above average across the Prairies this year, and quality is generally average to above-average.
president of the National Firearms Association said in a Dec. 13
interview. “If (prime minister Jean) Chrétien has half a brain, he will
cancel this. I’d say it’s an even bet. MPs will get back to their
ridings over Christmas and hear how disgusted their voters are. That
could lead to a scrapping.”
As it is, the final deadline for applying for a gun registration is
Jan. 1, 2003, with a six-month grace period for someone who has applied
but not received his or her registration paper.
Last week, Canadian Alliance MPs and gun registry opponents were
predicting the system will collapse under the weight of underfunding
and late applications.
Anti-registration groups like Law-abiding Unregistered Firearms
Association were counselling gun owners not to register.
In the midst of the administrative chaos, justice minister Martin
Cauchon said Dec. 13 that the program remains intact and the Jan. 1
registration application deadline remains.
“The government of Canada believes that the firearms program
contributes to public safety by keeping guns and ammunition out of the
wrong hands, by deterring their use and by controlling specific types
of firearms,” he told the House of Commons.
A week before, the federal government had stopped a planned vote on
another $72 million for the gun registry, pending an independent audit
of program costs by KPMG Consultants. When opponents said that lack of
money would effectively kill the program in its crucial final rush to
registration, Cauchon said money would be found elsewhere in the
justice department budget to keep the program going.
Last week, the House was supposed to debate legislation creating a more
streamlined gun control system. The legislation was not called for
debate.
Meanwhile, two Commons committees – government operations and public
accounts – have voted to hold hearings on the gun registration cost
overrun when Parliament resumes sitting at the end of January.
In the Commons, the Alliance, New Democratic Party and Progressive
Conservative Party all voiced opposition to the gun registry scheme.
In Edmonton, Hinter said the large outpouring of public anger should
convince the Liberals to back down.
“They don’t have a great track record of acting logically, though.”
