MPs will be asked this fall to approve another $100 million to fund the national gun registry system, bringing the 10-year bill for the controversial program to almost $1 billion.
But this time, after years of fighting the registry, its parliamentary opponents think they have a chance to reduce its funding, if not kill it.
The 99-member Conservative caucus is hoping to find enough Liberals and perhaps rural New Democrats to support them in a minority Parliament.
“I think there is a good chance we can do something to reduce the money to the point where there wouldn’t be enough to operate on,” said Conservative gun registry critic Garry Breitkreuz.
Read Also
Stacking Canada up on gene editing livestock
Canada may want to gauge how Argentina and other countries have approached gene editing in livestock and what that has meant for local innovation.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to reduce that wasteful spending.”
He is a member of the House of Commons committee that will scrutinize the program.
The Saskatchewan MP is basing his optimism on the assumption that many registry-skeptical Liberals will take advantage of prime minister Paul Martin’s promise that backbenchers will have more freedom to vote with their conscience or their constituents’ wishes.
Prominent rural Liberal MPs have returned to Ottawa reporting that in the June 28 election, gun control remained a volatile issue in their ridings.
Agriculture committee chair Paul Steckle from Ontario said the Liberal party lost two dozen Ontario seats and its parliamentary majority largely because of the issue.
He voted against it before in defiance of his party and hopes to have the chance again.
“I think we will face this issue again in Parliament. I will once again support its dismantlement and I believe significant numbers of other MPs from different parties will as well,” Steckle said.
“I think there is a good chance we can get rid of it.”
It is that kind of talk that has Breitkreuz dreaming. He also warns the government may not give MPs as much freedom as Martin has suggested.
“I’ve been talking to some Liberal MPs and they are seriously thinking of co-operating with us,” he said.
“Now when push comes to shove, will the prime minister say this is a confidence budget item? I’m not sure.”
In spending estimates for the Canada Firearms Centre presented to Parliament for a vote before the end of the year, public safety minister Anne McLellan said she wants costs controlled but the registration program retained.
“There is solid public support for firearms control in Canada,” she wrote in the estimates request.
“Equally, there is a keen interest in ensuring this significant investment in public safety is achieving real results at a reasonable cost.”
She said Canadians want “effective gun control” that still allows firearms to be used, since they are “part of our heritage, culture and economy.”
The Alberta minister insisted the registration program is effective.
“Licensing ensures that an individual who poses a threat to himself or herself or public safety does not have legal access to firearms,” she said.
“Registration encourages responsible firearm ownership and is an instrument that provides critical information to public safety officials in their investigations and helping curb illegal firearms smuggling and trafficking.”
Steckle offered a different view.
“Long gun registry does nothing but irritate people,” he said.
“I believe we could dismantle it and the country would not be weaker for it. I believe it is better to admit a mistake than go on making it.”
