NEWS RELEASE

September 18, 2003                                                                             For Immediate Release

GUN REGISTRY SURVIVING ON DECEIT, COVER-UP AND TAXPAYERS’ MILLIONS

Departmental documents reveal that the Minister has broken his promises to be “open and transparent”.

Ottawa – Justice Department documents obtained by Garry Breitkreuz, Official Opposition Critic for Firearms and Property Rights, reveal that the Justice Minister has repeatedly broken his promise to be “open and transparent” with Parliament about the cost and administration of the billion-dollar gun registry.  “The Minister promised Parliament seven times that he would be more open and transparent, but Parliamentarians are just as much in the dark now as they were last December,” declared Breitkreuz.  “For example, the government still refuses to answer our key questions: How much will it cost to fully implement the gun registry, and how much will it cost to maintain?”

“Breitkreuz’s office has filed 376 Access to Information Act requests since 1999 and claims it has been more difficult to get information in the last nine months.  Breitkreuz offered the following evidence from just the past month: 

(1)   I asked for the up-to-date cost spreadsheets – this vital information should have been delivered to my office a month and a half ago. 

(2)   I asked for the licencing and registration compliance statistics for each province and territory – the department claims the statistics are not available. 

(3)   I asked for copies of all the cost-benefit analyses conducted on the gun registry – Justice sent two reports, neither of which includes a cost-benefit analysis. 

(4)   I asked for the report documenting a quote from the Auditor General’s December 2002 report on the gun registry – there were 7 complete pages and 8 partial pages blanked-out because they declared the contents a Cabinet secret. 

(5)   I asked for the number of charges laid as a result of NWEST’s enforcement and support activities – departmental officials sent a report with 181 exemptions and without the key statistics requested. 

“Is this what the Minister means by being more open and accountable to Parliament?” asked Breitkreuz.  “Since February 2003, my office has filed 40 Access to Information Act requests with the Department of Justice.  So far, we have had to file a total of 26 complaints with the Office of the Information Commissioner.  These were comprised of 13 delay complaints and 13 complaints about missing information.  The department has advised us of extension deadlines for 11 of our requests,” reported Breitkreuz. 

“Nothing has actually changed since the Auditor General blew the whistle on this billion-dollar boondoggle last December.  Sure, the Solicitor General is now in charge of the mess, but the Justice Department is still answering the Solicitor General’s Access to Information Act requests about the gun registry,” stated Breitkreuz.  “The gun registry program was built on deceit and cover-up and only survives because of them.  Canadians will only learn the truth when the Liberals are no longer in charge.  Voters can only make a proper decision at election time if they have the information they need.  By hiding information from a parliamentarian, they are undermining democracy because Canadians can’t find out what’s happening in Ottawa,” concluded Breitkreuz.

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