Court of Public Opinion Will Decide Gun Laws

Friday February 25th 2000

Ottawa-This week the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments by several provinces challenging the constitutionality of Ottawa’s controversial gun control, Bill C-68. Prince George-Peace River MP, Jay Hill, said he was pleased with the unified position and the points made were right on the mark. However, Hill says the law will ultimately be judged in another court, that of public opinion, regardless of the Supreme Court decision.

"At the end of all the pros and cons, the only judgement that will count, will be the court of public opinion. Reform has long stated that the gun registry is not about crime control. We have fought this legislation from the out-set and have cited that it makes criminals of law-abiding citizens, intrudes on provincial jurisdiction, and does nothing to prevent the criminal misuse of firearms. At the end of the day, no lives have been saved, or criminals disarmed as a result of this legislation," said Hill.

Hill says he has constantly illustrated in and out of the House of Commons how costly and ineffective the registry is.

"It was supposed to cost $85 million to set up, and now costs are well over $300 million. Recent figures show close to 400 RCMP employees are working on the gun registration project that does not improve public safety. In fact in British Columbia alone, the shift in resources has taken 24 front line Mounties off the street at a time when BC is short well over 200 officers," stated Hill.

The constituents in our riding of Prince George-Peace River have been polled many times in the past through householder and scientific surveys regarding their view of Bill C-68. Time after time, the resounding majority of respondents have indicated their belief that registering rifles and shotguns will not make our communities any safer.

The Alberta Government spearheaded the Supreme Court challenge and was joined by several other provinces; British Columbia was not one of them. In fact our new Premier, Ujjal Dosanjh, is one of the registry’s biggest supporters.

"This is simply one more indication of how out of touch the NDP government in Victoria is with the rural residents in our region," Hill concluded.