FIREARMS
FACTS UPDATE
FIREARMS CENTRE ADMITS THEY DON’T KNOW THE NUMBER EMPLOYED BY THE GUN
REGISTRY
MAY
18, 2004:
BREITKREUZ'S ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT REQUEST
Reference is being made to a briefing note to [Anne McLellan] the
Minister of Justice dated 2001-04-12 titled: STAFFING LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
FIREARMS PROGRAM which stated: “There are currently just over 1,800
employees associated with the firearms program, counting processing sites, the
regions and all partners including the Registrar and CCRA.”
Please provide copies of reports showing the current
total number of employees associated with the firearms program with a detailed
breakdown for: (1) each partner; (2) each private and publicly operated
processing site; (3) each Chief Firearms Office (i.e. opt-in and opt-out); (4)
each private contractor; (5) those working directly or indirectly in and for
each of the other federal government departments and agencies; (6) those working
for each provincial, territorial and municipal government; and (7) firearms
officers employed by each provincial and municipal police service across the
country including those seconded from the federal government or the RCMP.
JUNE
25, 2004 – INCOMPLETE REPLY RECEIVED FROM CFC - File:
A-2004-0012
307 STAFF comprised of 232 Government Employees
+ 75 Private Company Staff
The Canada Firearms Centre does
not have reports on those working for other Federal government departments or
agencies, those working for provincial, territorial and municipal governments,
nor does it collect information on firearms offices employed by provincial and
municipal police forces.
JULY 6, 2004: BREITKREUZ COMPLAINT TO INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Please
find attached a copy of our original ATI request to the Canadian Firearms Centre
dated May 18, 2004 and the response we received dated June 25, 2004.
The department failed to provide all the documents and information
requested.
A
briefing note to Justice Minister Anne McLellan dated April 12, 2001 revealed: “There
are currently just over 1,800 employees associated with the firearms program.”
The department’s reply falls far short of the level of detail provided
to the Minister in this 2001 briefing note.
In
her December 3, 2002 report to Parliament, the Auditor General of Canada
revealed that the government was keeping Parliament in the dark about the full
cost of the firearms program. The
Minister responsible for the promised to comply fully with her recommendations
including the documentation of all direct and indirect costs incurred by other
departments and agencies plus the costs of enforcement and compliance.
Anyone would logically conclude that this promise should a total count of
the number of employees working in and for the firearms program, both directly
and indirectly. The CFC even failed to provide any information about the number
of employees working in the CFC’s Ottawa office.
I
hope you can help us get the information we requested so we can provide factual
and complete information to Parliamentarians and the public on the full cost of
this firearms fiasco when the House of Commons reconvenes in the fall.
SEPT 14,
2004: CFC PROVIDES ANOTHER INCOMPLETE RESPONSE – 439 STAFF
As
of May 17, 2004, the CFC admits that they had 439 staff working directly for the
program.
Miramichi, NB
= 158
Ottawa HQ
= 125
Newfoundland.
= 9
Northwest Region
= 66
Edmonton, AB
= 6
Private Companies
= 75
RCMP/NWEST
= Unknown
Other Fed. Depts.
= Unknown
Prov./Municipalities
= Unknown
Police Forces
= Unknown
TOTAL
= 439 (+ Hundreds more –
See Unknowns above)
Click
here for more detail:
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/NumberofEmployeesnCFC-2004-05-17.pdf