NOTE: Versions of this article also appeared in the: Regina Leader Post, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Kingston Whig-Standard, Victoria Times Colonist

PUBLICATION:              National Post

DATE:                              2004.02.07

EDITION:                      All but Toronto

SECTION:                     News

PAGE:                          A2

BYLINE:                        Tim Naumetz

SOURCE:                      CanWest News Service

DATELINE:                   OTTAWA

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Confusion grows over free vote on gun registry: Government House leader appears to reverse position

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OTTAWA - Liberal confusion over the future of the federal gun registry increased yesterday when Government House leader Jacques Saada said it is "hypothetical" to ask whether Liberal MPs will be able to vote freely on estimates for the Canadian Firearms Centre.

Mr. Saada, who had earlier ruled out a free vote on funding for the registry because government estimates are considered a matter of confidence that backbenchers must support, now says only the "bottom line" vote on main estimates would be a question of confidence.

Liberal MP Joe Jordan said the latest government position means it could be possible for the Commons, in a free vote, to reduce the gun registry spending estimates to $1 when they come before Parliament in March.

Mr. Saada's suggestion earlier in the week that there would be no free vote on the gun registry drew ridicule from the opposition, which accused Paul Martin, the Prime Minister, of backing down from his promise to give Liberal backbenchers more free votes in the House of Commons.

Liberal MP Roger Gallaway, parliamentary secretary for democratic reform, had predicted the program would die of "financial malnutrition" through a free vote in the Commons on spending estimates.

Several Liberal MPs criticized Mr. Gallaway for the statement, saying the firearm registry is a fundamental government policy and could not be subject to a free vote, while others backed his view.

Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz pressed the issue in Question Period yesterday, asking whether Mr. Martin would allow Liberal MPs to reduce the estimates for the gun program when departmental spending requests are tabled in Parliament in March. "The question is extremely clear," Mr. Saada responded. "When we speak of the final line with respect to budget provisions, it's a question of confidence in the government."

The House leader went on to describe the question about individual estimate items, such as a line item for the firearms centre, as hypothetical.

Mr. Saada claimed in a later interview he had never ruled out a free vote of some form on the registry. "All I've said is if it's a matter affecting fundamental government policy, it will not be a free vote," he said, using the Official Languages Act as an example to explain how amendments to fundamental programs could still be subject to free votes.

"Let's say, for instance, there is a line item in these estimates which say that, for instance, we should kill any money devoted for programs which are in application of the Official Languages Act," Mr. Saada said. "It's a matter of fundamental policy of government; it cannot be a free vote. But if you tell me that we are spending $20,000 too much on this, we should be able to reduce it by that amount, it may be a two-line [free] vote. The only thing which is automatically confidence is the bottom line, which is the final vote on the estimates once the amendments or whatever has been dealt with."

Mr. Jordan said Mr. Saada's position means MPs could pass a specific amendment on the registry, aside from an overall vote on main spending estimates, to reduce its budget to $1.