PUBLICATION:        The Edmonton Sun

DATE:                         2004.10.20

EDITION:                    Final

SECTION:                  News

PAGE:                         29

ILLUSTRATION:     Photo of GARY BREITKREUZ Details waste 

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GUN REGISTRY UNDER ATTACK AGAIN

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The national firearms registry is on track to blow its budget by more than $30 million by the end of the 2005-06 fiscal year, according to a report released by the Conservative opposition.

MP Gary Breitkreuz obtained pages from a consultant's report commissioned by the federal government to study possible cost savings for the money-bleeding registry.

The report forecasts "base-case" funding for the registry should top the government's 2003 estimates by $20.8 million this fiscal year, and $10.3 million next year.

"The $120 million wasted on the gun registry this year equals the salaries of more than 1,300 police officers," Breitkreuz said in an essay.

A spokesman for the registry wouldn't say whether the projections were still accurate, referring to a Report on Plans and Priorities tabled in the Commons that includes cost estimates.

The spokesman said government spending on the registry to the end of this fiscal year is still forecast to be no more than $969.7 million.

But the RPP report doesn't include estimates of planned spending on the registry for 2005-06 and beyond, something Breitkreuz's executive assistant Dennis Young calls an act of contempt for Parliament.

"They're hiding these projections from Parliament, claiming that the program is still under review," he said. "But the reviews have been completed.

"They won't tell us where the cost overruns came from. They won't tell us what they're spending next year. And they won't explain why."