Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner introduced a Private Member’s Bill into the House of Commons during the last session to dismantle the federal gun registry. As many of you may be aware, the Bill has now made it to the committee stage, making the threat of Canada losing its gun control system much more real. Bill C-391 is fundamentally detrimental to the public interest.
The Liberal Party is a strong supporter of effective gun control to protect the safety of the public and our police officers. All types of gun deaths – by homicide, suicide or accident – have declined since the registry was brought into force. There is no doubt that there were dramatic cost overruns in the registry’s original implementation, but as inappropriate as that was, the questions now and for the future remain: Is the registry effective? And is its annual cost worth it? In that regard, the RCMP estimates that the cost for maintaining the registry is only $3 million annually – or about 9 cents per year for every Canadian. Both the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Professional Police Association also support the registry. In fact, on March 18, Deputy RCMP commissioner Bill Sweeney told the House of Commons Public Safety Committee that there is strong evidence the registry promotes officer and public safety.
A responsible government would not dispose of a registry that is accessed 9,000 times a day by our police forces.
If and when Bill C-391 is brought to a vote in the House of Commons, I will vote against it, as well as against any future attempts to terminate the gun registry.
