April 7, 2003

Dear Editor:

Re: WHY VOTE FOR LIBERALS IF THEY WON’T VOTE FOR YOU?

On Tuesday, March 25th, we saw a clear demonstration of a serious flaw in our democratic system: Many Liberal MPs put Jean Chrétien’s wishes ahead of their constituents’ wishes, by voting to pour another $59 million into the failed firearms registry.  Two days later, an editorial in a major national paper said it all: So when backbenchers claim they have no influence, remember: People without spines rarely stand tall.”

Even on the day before the vote, newspapers trumpeted that a revolt was in the works – that as many as 20 Liberal MPs were considering defying the Prime Minister, despite his threat to expel them from caucus if they voted against the new registry money.  It was reported that more than one Liberal MP was in tears at the thought of flouting the express wishes of constituents one more time, simply because Jean Chrétien told the Liberal caucus how to vote.

The hypocrisy was not lost on reporters and editorial writers across Canada, who pointed out that Jean Chrétien didn’t consider it a matter of confidence when Parliament decided unanimously on December 5th to withdraw $72 million in supplementary spending from the gun registry program - so why now?

Perhaps more pertinently, why did Liberal Members of Parliament continue to pour money into this program, knowing full well that Parliament is still being kept in the dark?  Four months earlier, the Auditor General reported that the firearms program would cost a billion dollars to implement – not the $2 million that Justice Minister Allan Rock promised Parliament in 1995.  But that’s not all the Auditor General said. 

In her 2002 Report to Parliament, the Auditor General wrote: 

“We believe that this information does not fairly present the cost of the Program to the government…the Department of Justice did not provide Parliament with an estimate of all the major additional costs that would be incurred. This disclosure was required by the government's regulatory policy. The costs incurred by the provincial and territorial agencies in enforcing the legislation were not reported. In addition, costs that were incurred by firearms owners, firearms clubs, manufacturers, sellers, and importers and exporters of firearms, in their efforts to comply with the legislation were not reported.”

       

The government, to this day, has no idea how much the firearms registry has cost so far.  The Canadian Alliance has posed question after question to the Liberals in the House of Commons, trying to get an answer.  All we got in return were repeated reminders of why the daily routine is called “Question Period” and not “Answer Period. 

So every Member of Parliament knew they were buying a pig in a poke – prime tax-fattened pork, I might add – if they gave in to the Prime Minister’s threats.  They had no excuse.  Liberal MPs have some explaining to do to their constituents if they voted for the $59 million or if they didn’t have the courage to vote.

Two days after the Prime Minister won his vote and Liberal constituents lost theirs, the Justice Minister rubbed their noses in the mess he’s made.  He tabled a report in Parliament that confirmed many of the Auditor General’s most alarming conclusions.  Among them, the Minister forecasted that the gun registry would cost up to $128 million for this year ($33 million more than they estimated in last year’s report).  He admitted that even though his numbers were grossly incomplete, that the gun registry will have cost at least a billion dollars by 2005.  And he confirmed that he had no idea how much the gun registry would eventually cost, because his spreadsheets estimating the spending by departments other than Justice were filled with 105 blank spaces. 

The Minister really is shooting blanks.  He has no idea how much the registry has cost so far.  He has no idea how much it will cost for enforcement and compliance in the future.  Estimates published by the Library of Parliament demonstrate that enforcement costs alone could top a billion dollars, if even 10% of non-compliant gun owners are prosecuted.  So clearly, we’re talking about a $2 or $3 billion-dollar boondoggle here – not just a billion-dollar boondoggle.  Just think of all the excellent projects and programs that are begging for money while the Liberals waste money on their firearms fiasco.

Liberal MPs failed to do their primary duty to their constituents and taxpayers; namely, to vote against gross government waste and mismanagement wherever and whenever they see it.  Their constituents have to ask: Why should I vote for you if you won’t vote for me?  If the Liberal regime won’t change to become more democratic, it’s time to change the regime.

Sincerely,

Garry Breitkreuz, MP

Yorkton-Melville