NOTE:  This article also appeared in the Calgary Sun.

PUBLICATION:  The Edmonton Sun 

DATE:  2003.10.10

EDITION:  Final 

SECTION:  News 

PAGE:  30 

BYLINE:  STEPHANIE RUBEC, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU 

DATELINE:  OTTAWA 

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FIREARMS TALLY A YEAR AWAY: COMMISSIONER

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The Canadian Firearms Centre won't come clean on the total cost of the gun registry until next fall, says its commissioner, Bill Baker.

Baker told a Commons committee yesterday that he's still tallying up the costs, pointing out that the cash flows in from many departments and some paper trails have disappeared.  "There were some limitations for going back in time because not all the records were kept," Baker said. "I think we're making good progress in achieving the objectives."  

Canada's auditor general said earlier this year that the gun registry program would cost $1 billion by 2005 - 500 times more than the Liberals said it would.

Baker said this year's costs will be laid out in the Justice Department's performance report expected this month, but exactly how that money is spent won't be detailed until the centre is separated from the department and becomes its own entity next year.  "We'll have a full departmental report next fall," Baker said. 

Baker told the committee the program's most recent request for $10 million in extra funds is intended to pay consultants updating the problem-plagued gun registration system. It has yet to be approved by Parliament.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter said his government is concerned about cost overruns and denies that efforts have been undertaken to hide the true costs.  "I've always come clean on this issue," he said.

Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz, chastised Baker and Easter for failing to come clean. "This is not something that takes rocket science to determine," Breitkreuz said.

Breitkreuz accused the Liberals of stalling on releasing details of the bloated budget to give Paul Martin time to settle into the Prime Minister's Office. "The politics behind this is one of stonewalling," he said.