PETER
MACKAY PICKS UP BALL AFTER GALLAWAY’S FUMBLE
NOTE: See Peter MacKay's Motions on the House of Commons Notice
Paper today.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/house/orderpaper/041_2004-12-08/ordnp041-E.html
December
7, 2004 — Mr. MacKay (Central Nova) — Notice of opposition to Vote 20, in
the amount of $82,079,999, under SOLICITOR GENERAL (Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness) — Canadian Firearms Centre — Operating Expenditures, in the
Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.
December
7, 2004 — Mr. MacKay (Central Nova) — Notice of opposition to Vote 25, in
the amount of $14,499,999, under SOLICITOR GENERAL (Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness) — Canadian Firearms Centre — Contributions, in the Main
Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.
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PUBLICATION:
GLOBE AND MAIL
DATE:
2004.12.08
PAGE:
A4 (ILLUS)
BYLINE:
JOE FRIESEN
SECTION:
National News
EDITION:
Metro
DATELINE:
Ottawa ONT
WORDS:
468
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MP
drops plan for showdown on gun registry No chance of winning, Gallaway says
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JOE
FRIESEN OTTAWA Liberal MP Roger Gallaway said last night he will drop plans that
would have forced a separate vote on funding for the federal gun registry.
Mr.
Gallaway said he met with colleagues yesterday and decided to withdraw his
motion because it had no chance of winning. But he added that he and the Liberal
MPs who had backed his attempt to cut funds to the expensive and much-hated gun
registry would renew the fight at another time.
"Let
me say to the people suffering the oppression of the National Firearms Registry
that I'm disappointed," he said. "But it's not over yet. This law will
die, and we have six months to get organized" before the next round of
budget preparations.
"It's
doomed to death because it's fiscally irresponsible and it does nothing,"
he said last night.
He
said he met with Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday but was not pressed to
back down.
"I
did meet with the Prime Minister today; I was not in any way threatened; I was
not cajoled. We agreed to disagree." He also took a swipe at the Liberal
government.
"We
have a government that ran in the last election on fiscal responsibility,"
he said. "There is absolutely nothing fiscally responsible about this
program. We have many members who are disconnected from what their constituents
are telling them.
"I
just think there's a lot of stupid people on the front bench." Mr. Gallaway
had introduced a motion to have $80-million in funding for the rest of this
year's National Firearms Program budget hived off from a general estimates vote.
The vote was to come tomorrow.
The
gun-registry vote was not expected to threaten the minority Liberal government,
because the Bloc Quebecois had indicated it would side with the Liberals. But it
could have placed pressure on rural Liberal MPs to break with government.
Mr.
Gallaway's proposed motion raised some objections among MPs who were surprised
by its timing, which coincided with the 15th anniversary of the attack at the
Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal that left 14 women dead. The incident was the
impetus for the Chretien government's gun-control legislation.
Mr.
Gallaway, the MP for Sarnia-Lambton, said Sunday that although he supported the
creation of the registry in 1995, he feels deceived by the costs and wanted to
register his objection to runaway spending.
The
registry has been a difficult program for the Liberals since its inception. Last
year, the Liberal caucus exploded over the issue after a report by
Auditor-General Sheila Fraser said that implementing the program will cost more
than $1-billion by 2005. Promises were made in 1995 that it would cost only
$2-million after the fees from licensing and registration were recovered.