PUBLICATION:
The
Winnipeg Sun
DATE:
2004.01.09
EDITION: Final
SECTION:
Editorial/Opinion
PAGE:
8
COLUMN:
Editorial
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EASY
TEST FOR MARTIN
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Paul
Martin's handling of the ill-fated long-gun registry will be a big test of the
leadership abilities of Canada's new prime minister. Yet this test is a
no-brainer: Martin should cut our losses and kill the registry, a $2-million
plan that soared to $1 billion.
This
is not to say gun control isn't necessary. But the registry is not the way to do
it, as it fails to address the real problem -- criminals who use guns to kill,
rob and intimidate.
The
long-gun registry targets hunters and farmers, who use their rifles and shotguns
for sport hunting and pest control, respectively. They pose few threats.
The
registry is still seen by Liberals as a complicated political issue for Martin
-- because, they argue, it divides the country along urban-rural lines.
Up
to a point, they're right. A rural Manitoba farmer who goes to bed with his
doors unlocked doesn't share the concerns of a resident of Toronto, where gun
crimes are in the news almost daily. Similarly, many city residents don't
understand that long guns are often among a farmer's necessary tools.
One
of the challenges for the gun-registry review, headed by Minister of State for
Civil Preparedness Albina Guarnieri, herself a gun registry proponent, is to
find a way to mollify urban constituents, whose votes are near and dear to
Martin's Liberals.
In
the end, though, the registry's horrendous cost to the Canadian taxpayer, and
its proven ineffectiveness as a tool to fight crime, have to outweigh any
rationale for clinging to the failed, public-funded, feel-good venture.
The
focus must be on the real source of gun crimes -- smuggled weapons. Instead of
spending $1 billion on registering long guns of law-abiding citizens, some of
that money would go a long way to improving security at our borders to stem the
flow of contraband handguns. And with some guns arriving via postal services, as
The Sun's Maria McClintock reported on Wednesday, surveillance of mail coming
into Canada must be greatly expanded from the 5% currently X-rayed or inspected.
With
its timely review, the federal government has an opportunity now to shift its
focus to legitimate security issues and scrap the registry boondoggle.
"Nothing
short of shutting down the registry before the next federal election should
suffice," Manitoba Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh said this week.
We're
with the NDP on this one.
Now's
the time, Mr. Prime Minister.