"All this for a list"

January 15, 2003

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has finally confessed.  

He has admitted what opposition MPs and gun owners, among many other Canadians, have known since the federal Liberals tabled their infamous Firearms Act in 1995.  We knew that the legislation was really a matter of Liberal ideology, not registration.  

Since Auditor General Sheila Fraser revealed last month that the price tag for the error-ridden registry is set to hit $1-billion, Mr. Cauchon has been fending off calls for the firearms registry to be scrapped.  He’s up against some formidable opponents.  Eight of the provinces, whose cooperation he requires to enforce the firearms legislation, have told the federal government to suspend its gun registry. 

The minister is even under pressure from fellow Liberal MPs that represent urban areas that largely ignored the firearms registration issue until now.  Canadian Alliance MPs have always stressed that this issue is not simply a rural or “country problem”, but rather something of concern to each and every Canadian taxpayer.  In the past several weeks, no matter where they live, Canadians have told their MPs that they are not willing to sit idly by as the Liberals throw more good money after bad. 

So, it was left to Mr. Cauchon to defend the Liberal’s gun scheme.  Defiantly promising to spend even more money to implement the registry, Mr. Cauchon proclaimed, “What we are doing here is establishing in our Canadian society a culture and values”.

Forcing millions of law-abiding citizens to register their firearms is a reflection of Liberal policy.  It has nothing to do with culture and values!  The federal government has neither the authority nor the ability to use a legislative or administrative tactic to dictate culture and values to Canadians. 

Yet in its galling arrogance, this federal Liberal government envisions itself as the “big brother” that must decide for its citizens what they should value, what they should believe, how they should behave and … whether they should own a gun. 

That’s not democracy.  Canadian society has a rich culture and a vast set of values and beliefs that it in turn uses to tell its representative government what to do.  Once again, the federal Liberals have gotten it backwards.  

In the meantime, the chaos surrounding the registry continues.  It’s been revealed that before the Chrétien government even tabled its firearms legislation, Justice department officials warned that the cost of implementing the registry was prohibitive.  

And, as the January 1st deadline for firearms registration approached, the Liberals introduced another bizarre measure.  Now, the government’s determination for whether a gun owner is a criminal is based upon whether they send a letter or e-mail to the firearms centre saying they intend to register their firearms. 

Not surprisingly, the provinces have said they are not willing to waste the time and resources of their police forces or court systems on such a farce. 

There are so many other issues, such as the economy, healthcare and the threat of terrorism, that are worthy of public debate and investment.  Yet the government’s agenda and a billion dollars is being consumed on the gun registry which, after all is said and done… is just a list!