These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Gun Registry "Bad Law"
Mr. Darrel Stinson (Okanagan—Shuswap,
Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, at a news conference this morning,
Nova Scotia's justice minister, Jamie Muir, called Ottawa's gun registry a
“bad law”, a boondoggle, and unnecessary red tape, and he is directing
provincial prosecutors to refer any charges relating to long guns to their
federal counterparts. Why will the Liberal government not just admit that
its so-called gun registry simply does not work and scrap it?
Hon. Wayne Easter (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
I do find it strange that a person in that high authority would be
advising people in his own province to basically break the law.
The member knows, and I would encourage the minister in that province to
get up to speed, that we are improving the system. I have said a number of
times in the House that it is not our intent within the legislation to
criminalize legitimate gun owners. It is our intent to use the registry
system to assist NWEST in its ability to track down illegal weapons and
make this country safer.
Mr. Darrel Stinson (Okanagan—Shuswap, Canadian Alliance): Mr.
Speaker, eight provinces and three territories now say they will not
support this fiasco. How does the government plan on implementing the law
if these territories and provinces refuse to implement it?
Hon. Wayne Easter (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
I fully believe that when people understand how this system works and when
it continues to work more efficiently than it has in the past, those
sensible Canadians out there, and that includes legitimate gun owners,
when they see the benefits of the system, will want to register on time so
that we can use the system the way it was intended to be used, which is to
make our streets and communities safer.
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