#1Jan 29th, 2006
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Jack Ewatski, president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said he wants to open a dialogue on firearms with the ministers to be named early next month to the justice and public safety portfolios.
"We will certainly give this government some history relative to why we supported the gun legislation and gun control, including the registry, over the years," Ewatski said in an interview.
"I think it's imperative that we also provide some information to this government relative to the value of gun control programs within this country, including the registry."
The federal requirement to register shotguns and hunting rifles, initiated by the Liberals in 1995, has long rankled critics who say it is a wasteful exercise that does not reduce firearms-related crime.
A 2002 report by the federal auditor general put the computerized registry's price-tag at $1 billion, a figure that dwarfed the original $2-million estimate and further riled opponents of the measure.
Relatives of shooting victims spoke out during the recent election campaign, warning it would be a "grave error" to dismantle the registry.
But the police chiefs, who have historically backed the program, remained silent.
Ewatski, chief of the Winnipeg Police Service, stopped short of saying the association would now lobby the Tories to keep the registry.
But he made it clear the chiefs still see value in the initiative.
Ewatski said statistics show police officers electronically query the registry about 2,000 times a day, which can, for instance, help them determine whether guns are in a house they are about to enter.
"We take the approach in policing that information is the lifeblood of our work," he said. "And the more information our front-line officers have on the streets to do their job, the better prepared they are to deal with situations of public safety as well as officer safety."
Saskatchewan Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, a vociferous critic of the registry, questions the notion that thousands of police benefit from it daily.
Breitkreuz argues many of those officers are actually looking for other information - not firearms data - when they log onto the computerized banks.
He insists the firearms registry, which lists more than seven million guns, is not a cost-effective tool.
"It's of no use to the police right now," Breitkreuz said.
"It's really not achieving what they promised it would do. It is a paper-pushing exercise that does not affect the criminal who's going to use a firearm."
The Conservatives plan to retain the seven-decade-old registry of handguns, dismantling only the tracking system for long guns ushered in during the 1990s.
The Tories, who won a slim minority at the polls, have also promised tougher mandatory sentences for firearms crimes.
Money now spent on the registry would be used to hire more police.
Breitkreuz said it's difficult to crunch numbers because "we have been completely frustrated" by the government in obtaining complete cost figures.
"I guess once we take a look at the books we'll know exactly what's going on."
It's unclear whether legislation, and therefore adequate support in the Commons, would be needed to dismantle the registry.
For his part, Breitkreuz sees no wiggle room on the Tory promise.
"We've got a commitment made, and there's no reason not to keep it."
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and I intend to seek clarification relative to costs that have been discussed in the media. ... I do not believe in 'blind support' of anything and it is imperative I receive accurate information and then base my opinions on that alone." -- The Edmonton Journal, August 6, 1999. Page A1
