Friday, November 12, 1999
Ontario minister fumes over gun registry costs
Spend on prevention
Robert Fire, Ottawa Bureau Chief
National Post
OTTAWA - A senior minister in the Ontario government has sent a strongly worded letter to Anne McLellan, the federal Justice Minister, pointing out that money spent on the contentious gun registry could have paid for 1,900 new front-line troops.
David Tsubouchi, the Solicitor-General, wrote to Ms. McLellan after the National Post revealed that the cost of the registry soared to almost $300-million since the gun law came into effect last
December.
Justice Department officials acknowledge Ottawa spent $195-million to set up the registration system at the Canadian Firearms Centre in Miramichi, N.B., and a separate facility in Montreal, even though the government had said it would only cost $85-million, spread over five years.
In addition to the start-up costs, the government estimates it will cost $100-million this fiscal year and a similar amount annually over the next two years to operate the system until it is functioning smoothly. Once that happens, the operating budget is to average $60-million over a 10-year period.
"Your government has already spent almost $295-million on the registration system," Mr. Tsubouchi complained in the Nov. 10 letter, which was also sent to the National Post.
"To put this in perspective, Ontario is investing $150-million into helping police services hire up to 1,000 new front-line officers on the streets of our province ... It means that the $295-million your government is spending creating a large bureaucracy and red tape could have been spent on almost 1,900 new front-line officers."
Rather than waste vast amounts of money on "this large bureaucratic machine," Mr. Tsubouchi urged Ms. McLellan to scrap the registration system and rewrite the Firearms Act to tighten up
penalties for criminals using guns in the commission of a crime.
The Ontario government has joined five provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia -- as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories, in a Supreme Court of Canada challenge to the constitutionality of the gun law, which forces gun owners to license and register all of their firearms.
The law requires an estimated three million owners of seven million guns to obtain licences and photo ID cards by Jan. 1, 2001. A possession licence costs $10 but the price will jump to $45 on Dec. 1. An acquisition licence to buy more guns costs $60, renewable every five years.
On Jan. 1, 2003, gun owners will also have to register all their firearms at a cost of $10 with the fee rising to $18 in subsequent years. There is also a $25 transfer fee for selling a firearm.
"We recognize the importance of keeping firearms out of the hands of violent criminals. It is one our most urgent priorities.However, criminals do not register guns and bureaucratic registeries will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals," Mr. Tsubouchi said.
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I recall reading somewhere that, so far, this program has a compliance rate of something like 1%. If that figure is true and that trend continues, this program will get far more expensive if enforcement ever begins.
Apply these numbers to a similar scenario in the U.S. and the overall cost of firearms registration would be astronomical.
But that's what government today is all about isn't it?
A bloated bureaucracy that accomplishes nothing at great expense.
Ontario minister fumes over gun registry costs
Spend on prevention
Robert Fire, Ottawa Bureau Chief
National Post
OTTAWA - A senior minister in the Ontario government has sent a strongly worded letter to Anne McLellan, the federal Justice Minister, pointing out that money spent on the contentious gun registry could have paid for 1,900 new front-line troops.
David Tsubouchi, the Solicitor-General, wrote to Ms. McLellan after the National Post revealed that the cost of the registry soared to almost $300-million since the gun law came into effect last
December.
Justice Department officials acknowledge Ottawa spent $195-million to set up the registration system at the Canadian Firearms Centre in Miramichi, N.B., and a separate facility in Montreal, even though the government had said it would only cost $85-million, spread over five years.
In addition to the start-up costs, the government estimates it will cost $100-million this fiscal year and a similar amount annually over the next two years to operate the system until it is functioning smoothly. Once that happens, the operating budget is to average $60-million over a 10-year period.
"Your government has already spent almost $295-million on the registration system," Mr. Tsubouchi complained in the Nov. 10 letter, which was also sent to the National Post.
"To put this in perspective, Ontario is investing $150-million into helping police services hire up to 1,000 new front-line officers on the streets of our province ... It means that the $295-million your government is spending creating a large bureaucracy and red tape could have been spent on almost 1,900 new front-line officers."
Rather than waste vast amounts of money on "this large bureaucratic machine," Mr. Tsubouchi urged Ms. McLellan to scrap the registration system and rewrite the Firearms Act to tighten up
penalties for criminals using guns in the commission of a crime.
The Ontario government has joined five provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia -- as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories, in a Supreme Court of Canada challenge to the constitutionality of the gun law, which forces gun owners to license and register all of their firearms.
The law requires an estimated three million owners of seven million guns to obtain licences and photo ID cards by Jan. 1, 2001. A possession licence costs $10 but the price will jump to $45 on Dec. 1. An acquisition licence to buy more guns costs $60, renewable every five years.
On Jan. 1, 2003, gun owners will also have to register all their firearms at a cost of $10 with the fee rising to $18 in subsequent years. There is also a $25 transfer fee for selling a firearm.
"We recognize the importance of keeping firearms out of the hands of violent criminals. It is one our most urgent priorities.However, criminals do not register guns and bureaucratic registeries will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals," Mr. Tsubouchi said.
********************************************
I recall reading somewhere that, so far, this program has a compliance rate of something like 1%. If that figure is true and that trend continues, this program will get far more expensive if enforcement ever begins.
Apply these numbers to a similar scenario in the U.S. and the overall cost of firearms registration would be astronomical.
But that's what government today is all about isn't it?
A bloated bureaucracy that accomplishes nothing at great expense.