Drizzt
Member
The Halifax Daily News
June 5, 2003 Thursday DAILY Edition
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 19
LENGTH: 459 words
HEADLINE: Gun registry rejection rises
BODY:
If politics makes strange bedfellows, the five provinces that are not going to be prosecuting people who violate federal gun-registry rules has to rank as the most disparate collection yet to share the same sheets.
It was no surprise that the three Prairie provinces -- Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta -- turned their backs on the registry. Even though Alberta's government is staunchly Tory while the other two provinces have elected New Democratic Party governments, rifles and shotguns are an integral part of Western Canada's rural culture, and those three provinces would be staunch registry opponents regardless of the party in power.
The two other dissenters -- Nova Scotia and Ontario -- were somewhat unexpected. It's not often that Upper Canada, a Maritime province and the Prairies can agree on much of anything, and most of the time, those regions are at loggerheads over everything from transfer payments to management of natural resources to the Atlantic Canadian work ethic. Anger over the gun registry, however, has united these Five Musketeers.
In announcing Nova Scotia's position, Justice Minister Jamie Muir said: "This is not a good or useful piece of legislation. Our prosecutors have lots of work to do, and we would sooner see them doing things which we think are more important to public safety."
A day later, Mr. Muir's Ontario counterpart, Norm Sterling, said: "They (the federal government) should take responsibility for a badly flawed piece of legislation, which really persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people who want to use long firearms for hunting and recreational use."
These top provincial law officials are not advocating civil disobedience. They have not advised anyone to refrain from complying with the gun-registration law. They are simply leaving its enforcement in the hands of federal prosecutors -- a form of passive resistance.
The gun-registration law has been contentious since its inception eight years ago. Last December, controversy exploded when auditor general Sheila Fraser revealed that the cost of the registry has ballooned to an anticipated $1 billion from an initial estimate of $2 million.
Obviously, the registry needs to be reconsidered. But that is not likely to occur until after Prime Minister Jean Chretien leaves office.
By the end of this month, owners who have not complied will face the legal action the five provinces have eschewed. According to the Canadian Firearms Centre, 500,000 people have not yet registered their long guns. But that figure will need to be revised in the wake of a computer crash that may have invalidated some people's registrations. This latest glitch provides even more ammunition for the anti-registry lobby.
June 5, 2003 Thursday DAILY Edition
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 19
LENGTH: 459 words
HEADLINE: Gun registry rejection rises
BODY:
If politics makes strange bedfellows, the five provinces that are not going to be prosecuting people who violate federal gun-registry rules has to rank as the most disparate collection yet to share the same sheets.
It was no surprise that the three Prairie provinces -- Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta -- turned their backs on the registry. Even though Alberta's government is staunchly Tory while the other two provinces have elected New Democratic Party governments, rifles and shotguns are an integral part of Western Canada's rural culture, and those three provinces would be staunch registry opponents regardless of the party in power.
The two other dissenters -- Nova Scotia and Ontario -- were somewhat unexpected. It's not often that Upper Canada, a Maritime province and the Prairies can agree on much of anything, and most of the time, those regions are at loggerheads over everything from transfer payments to management of natural resources to the Atlantic Canadian work ethic. Anger over the gun registry, however, has united these Five Musketeers.
In announcing Nova Scotia's position, Justice Minister Jamie Muir said: "This is not a good or useful piece of legislation. Our prosecutors have lots of work to do, and we would sooner see them doing things which we think are more important to public safety."
A day later, Mr. Muir's Ontario counterpart, Norm Sterling, said: "They (the federal government) should take responsibility for a badly flawed piece of legislation, which really persecutes the wrong people, innocent people, good people who want to use long firearms for hunting and recreational use."
These top provincial law officials are not advocating civil disobedience. They have not advised anyone to refrain from complying with the gun-registration law. They are simply leaving its enforcement in the hands of federal prosecutors -- a form of passive resistance.
The gun-registration law has been contentious since its inception eight years ago. Last December, controversy exploded when auditor general Sheila Fraser revealed that the cost of the registry has ballooned to an anticipated $1 billion from an initial estimate of $2 million.
Obviously, the registry needs to be reconsidered. But that is not likely to occur until after Prime Minister Jean Chretien leaves office.
By the end of this month, owners who have not complied will face the legal action the five provinces have eschewed. According to the Canadian Firearms Centre, 500,000 people have not yet registered their long guns. But that figure will need to be revised in the wake of a computer crash that may have invalidated some people's registrations. This latest glitch provides even more ammunition for the anti-registry lobby.
