NEWS RELEASE

February 19, 2004                                                                                            For Immediate Release

TWENTY-TWO TIMES LIBERALS HAVE REFUSED TO REVEAL GUN REGISTRY COSTS!

“Liberals have been keeping Parliament and the public in the dark since December 3, 2002!”

Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Deputy House Leader and Official Opposition Justice Critic for Gun Control, provided everyone with a list of gun registry costs that the Liberals are still hiding from Parliament and the public.  Since the Auditor General reported on this billion-dollar boondoggle on December 3, 2002, the Official Opposition has repeatedly asked the Prime Minister and Ministers in charge of this firearms fiasco to answer this one simple question: How much is it going to cost to fully implement the gun registry, and how much is it going to cost to maintain?  “Liberals ridicule everyone else’s estimates but continually refuse to provide a truthful estimate of their own,” said Breitkreuz.

Here are some of the gun registry costs the government has failed to disclose to Parliament or the public.  Documentation on these cost estimates were obtained through Access to Information Act requests and from the Library of Parliament.

ENFORCEMENT COSTS               = $ 1 BILLION

Note #1: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns81.htm

COMPLIANCE COSTS                   =  $367 to $764 MILLION

Note #2: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns88.htm

Note #3: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns96.htm

PRIVATIZATION COSTS               =  $371 MILLION

Note #4: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns112.htm

ECONOMIC COSTS                        =  STILL A CABINET SECRET

Note #5: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/Guncontrol41.htm

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS           =  STILL A CABINET SECRET

Note #6: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns77.htm

Note #7: http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/Article195.htm

INDIRECT COSTS                          =  STILL UNKNOWN for Treasury Board, Foreign Affairs, Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources Canada, National Defence, Parks Canada, Corrections Canada, and the Canadian War Museum.

Note #8: Indirect costs not accounted for in the Liberal’s Performance Report on the Firearms Program – October 31, 2003 - http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rma/dpr/02-03/JUS-JUS/JUS-JUS03D01_e.asp#canadianfirearmsprogram

“A billion dollars has been wasted – a full year ahead of government’s estimates uncovered by the Auditor General in December 2002.  How many hundreds of millions more will be wasted before the gun registry is fully implemented?  I don’t even think the Liberals know.  Maybe that’s why they won’t answer our questions,” concluded Breitkreuz.

NUMBER OF TIMES OFFICIAL OPPOSITION HAS ASKED LIBERALS THE QUESTION:

http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/Article286.htm

-30-