These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
No Free Vote
Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville,
CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has already broken his promise
that he made on national television only last night.
He said one of the most important democratic reforms is to give MPs more
power to represent their constituents, but now he announces there will not
be a free vote on the gun registry. The Prime Minister's words and his
actions just do not line up.
An Ipsos-Reid poll this week tells us that only 43% of Canadians support
the gun registry. Will the Prime Minister allow a free vote on the
firearms fiasco or will he not?
Hon. Jacques Saada (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I
thought that the plan of action was very clear. Votes concerning the
throne speech, basic policy and budget matters are traditionally
confidence votes. Therefore, it will be a whipped vote, as usual.
Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC): The fact is he
broke his promise in less than 24 hours.
The Liberals' 1993 red book made no mention of a universal firearms
registry. When the man who wrote the red book became finance minister, he
wrote most of the cheques for this billion dollar boondoggle.
The Prime Minister made national news once again about how all of his
programs are going to pass seven tests. The gun registry fails all seven
of the Prime Minister's expenditure review tests. It fails all seven and
again he says one thing but he does another. Why is he just reviewing this
firearms fiasco instead of scrapping it?
Hon. Albina Guarnieri (Associate Minister of National Defence and
Minister of State (Civil Preparedness), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the
government's review of the gun registry is about building a better gun
system. With this registry, gun advocates will ensure that they have a
sustainable system and owners of guns can expect a system that listens to
their legitimate concerns.
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