These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Keeping Parliament in the Dark
Mr. Garry Breitkreuz
(Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised
voters a more open and transparent government and yet he hides a report on
the $2 billion gun registry, a report he ordered and a report he promised
would fix this mess. That report came back full of blanks.
Why is the Prime Minister
blanking out the truth? Why is he doing the same thing Jean Chrétien did,
keeping Parliament in the dark?
Hon. Roy Cullen
(Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the firearms program has a very
positive cost benefit because it is working and it is contributing to
public safety.
Police and other officials
use the firearms program information. In fact, they are averaging 15,000
inquiries a week from the firearms registry online.
So far this year, 1,100
affidavits have been prepared by the Canada Firearms Centre to support
firearms related criminal prosecutions and more than 12,000--
The Deputy Speaker: The
hon. member for Yorkton—Melville.
Mr. Garry Breitkreuz
(Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, that answer indicates that the
government is shooting blanks and missing the target completely.
The Canadian Firearms
Centre sent out letters with 770,000 free licence renewals but 46,509
letters came back as undelivered.
How are the police
supposed to know where all the guns are when they do not even know where
50,000 gun owners live?
Hon. Roy Cullen
(Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the only member shooting blanks is
the member opposite.
Police organizations are
supporting the gun registry. In fact, I would like to quote the Canadian
Association of Chiefs of Police President, Edgar MacLeod, who said:
There is no question
that the system works and that it is a valuable tool. ...new gun-control
system improves the screening of legal gun owners, increases their
accountability and provides tools to prevent the diversion and misuse of
firearms.
We are managing and
containing the cost, and we will continue to do so.
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