Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. Yorkton-Melville

News Release

Reform Justice Critics Walk Out of Committee Meeting in Resignation

For Immediate Delivery

December 3, 1997

Ottawa-- Yesterday, the Reform Justice Team moved to delete all 62 pages of gun regulations recently reviewed by the Standing Committee on Justice. "Tinkering with regulations that are fundamentally flawed cannot change what was a bad Bill in the first place. What they need is to go back to the drawing board," declared Reform’s Chief Justice Critic Jack Ramsay. Immediately following the defeat of Reform’s recommendation by the Liberal dominated Committee, the Reform Critics walked out of the meeting.

"If the government proceeds with implementation as planned, the registration system will be filled with errors according to the RCMP. This will render the system practically useless even for the purposes the government said it was originally intended to fulfill which is to provide for safer streets," said Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville. "The government can’t even tell us how much it’s going to cost so how will they ever be able to determine if it’s cost-effective?"

This week, officials in the Canadian Firearms Centre confirmed with Breitkreuz’ s office that no one is even looking at the economic cost that these new regulations will impose on the Canadian economy. "They don’t know how much gun registration is going to cost to implement. They don’t know how much it’s going to cost Canadians in lost jobs, lost sales, lost trade and lost investment. All they do know is the registration system will be riddled with erroneous data that will be practically useless to police," said Breitkreuz. "Bill C-68 was a huge mistake and it’s becoming more obvious all the time. Gun clubs, shooting ranges, gun show organizers and outfitters who count on American business will be destroyed."

Ramsay concluded, "Reformers are tired of playing the Liberals’ games. Gun registration won’t improve public safety but here’s what will: (1) More police on the street, (2) Keeping violent criminals in jail until the end of their sentence, (3) Limiting the use of conditional sentencing to non-violent offenders, (4) A complete overhaul of the Young Offender’s Act. The government talks about public safety but fails to put tax dollars where they will do the most good."

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