"B.C. Joins Coalition of the Unwilling"

June 11, 2003

Revelations throughout the past month should have finally proven to even the most stalwart supporters of the federal firearms registry that the eight-year $1-billion-plus Liberal initiative is a failure.  

There was certainly enough proof for the governments of Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia.  Those provinces now join Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in refusing to prosecute those failing to comply with federal firearms registration.   

That’s six provincial governments of varying political stripes – Liberal, Conservative, NDP – that recognize the gun registry to be contrary to the interests of their populations.  The B.C. Attorney General called the firearms registry an “unmitigated disaster”.  The Ontario Attorney General called it a “false promise” that “persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people.” 

Many are applauding these provinces for taking a stand against federal bungling, but the fact that several provinces have refused to enforce federal legislation is also cause for alarm.  Alarming because of the precedent it sets and because a federal government has acted so irresponsibly that the provinces felt compelled to take such drastic measures. 

The latest revelation to prompt this rebellion was news that not only can anyone get a gun if they really want to … now they can probably register it too.   That’s because firearms registration officials may not even bother with background or reference checks when processing firearms applications.

After eight years of telling Canadians that the firearms registry would ensure our safety by keeping guns out of the wrong hands, the federal Liberals admit that firearms licenses have been granted without background checks.  Solicitor General Wayne Easter can’t even say how many of the 589,200 individuals issued licenses have escaped scrutiny.   

In fact, Mr. Easter is missing a great deal of information about what he calls “bumps in the road” at the Federal Firearms Centre.  A computer crash in December obliterated the records of gun owners who successfully completed their firearms applications online.  Unbelievably, Mr. Easter doesn’t know how many records were lost.   

The Liberals denied the registry was set to cost taxpayers $1-billion.  The Auditor General proved otherwise.  Then, just recently, the Canadian Alliance discovered the Liberals had failed to identify an additional $17-million of firearms registry spending incurred by other federal departments.  

The credibility deficit rises all the way to the top of the Liberal party.  Prime Minister Jean Chrétien assured Canadians late last year that people had been fired or demoted as punishment for the spiraling costs of the gun registry.  Yet the former head of the Federal Firearms Centre bluntly says he has no idea to whom or to what the Prime Minister was referring.  Given all this, is it any wonder Canadians are unsure what to believe when it comes to this firearms fiasco?

The governments of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia obviously found they couldn’t trust the federal Liberals to be forthcoming and responsible in the management of their prized firearms registry.  And that gives Canadians little reason to trust anyone implicated in the financing of this boondoggle, including former Finance Minister Paul Martin.