From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V5 #364 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Sender: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Errors-To: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Thursday, December 5 2002 Volume 05 : Number 364 In this issue: Editorial: The waste party Column: ONE BILLION REASONS TO BE WORRIED Stick Then with It RE: The real world... RE: RFC Ottawa: Tip of the Hat RE: submitted letter to the editor Kipling Poem Re: ACICR [from the archives] Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V5 #357 Our biggest problem ... Repeal C-68 Firearms: Terms confused, objectives misguided ROCK RECOGNITION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:23:10 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Editorial: The waste party PUBLICATION: National Post DATE: 2002.12.05 EDITION: National SECTION: Editorials PAGE: A25 SOURCE: National PostAuditing; Reports; Canada - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- The waste party - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- The revelation by Sheila Fraser, the Auditor-General, that the Liberal government has wasted close to $1-billion on its controversial national firearms registry has garnered more media attention than any other section of her 2002 annual report. Rightly so. The waste at the registry is enormous and galling. It is bad enough that costs exceed original estimates by a factor of more than 10 -- and the registry is not yet fully complete. What is worse is that Ms. Fraser has accused the government of misleading Parliament about the true extent of spending so as to ensure continued legislative support for the scheme. Such colossal fiscal bungling and dishonesty deserves all the attention it has received. But the gun registry is not the only example of Liberal mismanagement contained in this year's auditor-general's report. Nor is this year's the first to catalogue waste and incompetence on such a scale. Last year, the big story was the $350-million in home-heating subsidies Ottawa had sent to ineligible seniors and federal inmates. Cheques had even been sent to 7,500 dead people and 4,000 non-residents, some to offset the cost of air-conditioning their Florida retirement homes. In 2000, it was the more than $1-billion Ottawa had thrown away on the Transitional Jobs Fund, an economic development slush fund buried within the Human Resource Development department, that the Liberals and their allies in the bureaucracy had used for buy-vote projects on the eve of the 1997 federal election. In a special report on the HRDC scandal, then-auditor-general Denis Desautels found "long-standing and widespread" incompetence throughout the federal government, but particularly at HRDC where hundreds of millions were handed out, frequently to companies that had submitted no application for funds, and occasionally even to companies that had not bothered to incorporate; most often without screening or credit checks. In Quebec, a shadow government made up of Liberal organizers and bagmen had been established to channel funds to the Liberals' friends. Government claims that the spending had created 30,000 jobs could not be verified because almost no follow-ups had been done on the disposition of the grants, and few recipient companies bothered to file the required reports. One year before the HRDC scandal, Mr. Desautels revealed that $3.6-billion of the money Indian Affairs sends to First Nations bands -- more than half of total transfers -- was never accounted for. After the money was handed over, no efforts were made to monitor how it was spent, where or on whom. And yet local First Nations' governments were still nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in debt. In all, auditors-general have complained five times in the past decade about the cavalier manner in which billions are transferred annually to bands. The $2-billion spent in the past decade on the Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, the $2-billion annually awarded by the Canadian International Development Agency (half of which goes to Quebec firms and project administrators), the Liberals' $6-billion Infrastructure Program and the billions more spent on questionable business investments through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Federal Office of Regional Development (Quebec) and the Western Economic Diversification agency have all earned strong rebukes from one auditor-general or another since the Liberals came to power in 1993. At least three times in the past decade, including this year, the auditor-general has demanded Ottawa explain why it is running such a huge surplus -- now $42-billion -- in the Employment Insurance Fund, while at the same time refusing to cut the premiums paid by workers and employers. The federal Liberals have never paid anything more than lip service to these requests. In her Monday report, Ms. Fraser pointed out that Ottawa spends $1.7-billion each year on office space without ever evaluating whether it would be cheaper to buy or rent. She and her predecessors have asked three times that the Real Property Services Branch of the Public Works Department plan "in a more businesslike manner," but almost nothing ever gets done. She has also previously expressed her view that the Liberals are attempting to place more and more public spending beyond the reach of Parliament -- and any government that replaces them -- by endowing public foundations with hundreds of millions of tax dollars that will generate a steady income for their programs, no matter what the party in power thinks of those programs. In the private sector, a fiscal failure on the scale of the gun registry would land those responsible on the unemployment line, or even in jail. And yet, as these examples show, the registry is just a drop in the bucket. Think about how much richer Canada would be if the Liberals took the auditor-general reports of the last decade seriously. If even half of the money Ottawa wastes were channelled into health care, for instance, we might pay for Roy Romanow's recommendations twice over without raising taxes. The latest audit extends a catalogue of Liberal arrogance, incompetence and profligacy that beggars belief. Unfortunately, it is also gradually beggaring the country ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:23:10 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: ONE BILLION REASONS TO BE WORRIED PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2002.12.05 EDITION: Final SECTION: Sports PAGE: 121 SOURCE: BY JOHN KERR COLUMN: Outdoors - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- ONE BILLION REASONS TO BE WORRIED - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser's annual report on government spending, released Tuesday, should send cold shivers up the spines of taxpayers who supported the Liberals' firearms licensing and long-gun registration boondoggle, but especially hunters and target shooters at which the legislation is aimed. Fraser revealed program costs will top $1 billion by 2005, and likely climb higher, but she called off the audit because financial records are in a shambles. "The Department (Justice) provided information only on costs incurred by the Department's Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC), not the total cost of developing, implementing, and delivering the program," stated the auditor's report. Missing are costs to other departments, police, the provinces, and, of course, firearm owners and businesses forced to comply. The one-billion figure was predicted years ago by critics of the gun program, but was shrugged off by then Justice Minister Allan Rock. According to the auditor's report, in 1994 the Department of Justice estimated a net cost of only $2 million! After going through the report -- a scary revelation of bureaucratic mismanagement and political financial shuffling, which was kept hidden from Parliament, according to Fraser -- I think the worst is yet to come. One billion dollars most likely doesn't even come close to the final tab. So where does this leave hunters and other firearm owners? For starters, expect to pay more when your firearms licence comes up for renewal, as government attempts to recover some costs. The bargain $10 Possession Only Licence people were offered two years ago is a thing of the past. At a minimum, expect to pay $60, as holders of Possession and Acquisition Licences do now. I suspect even that fee will be raised to try to recover costs. For starters, on Jan. 1 the $25 transfer fee when you buy a gun kicks in again. Costs and inefficiencies aside, what really bothers me about the audit report is that the firearms program has lost its focus on real criminals. The audit revealed, " ... the program's focus had changed from high risk firearms owners and their firearms to excessive regulation and enforcement of controls over all owners and their firearms." And, "the Department said the excessive regulation had occurred because some of its program partners believed that the use of firearms is in itself a 'questionable activity' that required strong controls, and there should be a zero-tolerance attitude toward non-compliance with the Firearms Act." Bad hunters. Shame. What the report doesn't cover is the cost of firearms yet to be "verified," as required under the legislation. That's not been done for most guns. Initially, the government called for volunteers from gun clubs and the like to do this for free. Sure. Most won't even do it for a fee. It's a lesson in how to become unpopular. What will it cost to send a paid CFC employee or police to each legal gun owner's house to verify their registered firearms? An astronomical amount? Things should heat up again late today. The House of Commons is slated to vote on Supplemental Estimates to budgets. And the Justice Department is said to be asking for an additional $72 million for the gun registry, on top of the $1 billion estimates. And, in case you haven't heard, late last week Justice Minister Martin Cauchon announced a six-month "grace" period for tardy gun owners who haven't registered their firearms. The Firearms Act states gun owners must have registration certificates in hand on Jan. 1. Now, Cauchon says they have until June 30 to receive certificates. Disguised as a break for gun owners, in reality, Cauchon is trying to put a good spin on the fact that he's giving the backlogged and befuddled CFC an additional six months to process registration applications. Gun owners must still get applications to the CFC by Jan. 1. They will not be accepted afterwards. Then, if you own unregistered guns, you'll be an instant criminal if caught by police. Who will stop this registry madness of pouring good money after bad? The government and police already know licensed firearms owners own guns. Does it matter to police if they know exactly what types and models? It's time to call for an independent audit of whether the licensing and registration system is even working to lower gun-related homicides, other crimes, and suicides, as touted by the Liberals when they started this fiasco. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:36:43 -0600 (CST) From: Edward Hudson Subject: Stick Then with It Al Muir wrote: > If you were waiting for the last minute to register, > wait beyond it. > And except no less from your friends. > Stop dancing on the edge of their pin, > get off of it and stick them with it. Very well said !! The time for peaceful civil disobedience has arrived. NEVER REGISTER. See you in Ottawa on the first of January. Sincerely, Eduardo http://www.cufoa.ca "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:36:46 -0600 (CST) From: "Ed Sieb" Subject: RE: The real world... Dave Tomlinson wrote: > The only other major firearms association represented was > the CSSA, represented by Tony Bernardo. Al Dorans was not > present, either as an invited participant or as a spectator > to see what was happening, which is odd, because he lives in > Ottawa. - -------------------------------- I live in Ottawa too, and I was neither invited, or advised of this proceeding. Thus, I too was neither a participant, nor spectator. I would also suggest that of the large number of interested and enthusiastic gun owners in the Ottawa area, none of them were present either. If NFA and CSSA wish to initiate audiences with the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, certainly they're free to advise whomever they wish, that these proceedings are taking place. Was Mr. Dorans invited? Just curious. Ed Sieb ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:36:51 -0600 (CST) From: "Young, Rick, (FHM)" Subject: RE: RFC Ottawa: Tip of the Hat The telephone poll today (Dec. 5) at Q104 in Halifax poses the question: Should Ottawa spend more money on the gun registry? It also gives you a chance to leave comments. No report on results yet but they take calls until roughly 4:30 Atlantic time. Telephone number is 902-493-2781, them 5, then 1 for "Citizen Q". Rick ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:36:55 -0600 (CST) From: "Bear.23 Rogers" Subject: RE: submitted letter to the editor Because of waning support this gathering has been cancelled!!! - -----Original Message----- From: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca [mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca]On Behalf Of Paul Chicoine Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 11:51 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: submitted letter to the editor letter to the editor regarding the AG's report of gun control At weeks end a small group will gather at a Montreal park to memorialize the death of 14 young women. At weeks beginning, Auditor General Sheila Fraser tabled a scathing report of the government program intended to address those senseless deaths. Over the passage of time, between cause and effect, more than a billion dollars will be wasted. Money, which could have been better spent dealing with the causes of violence, the effects of violence, education, health care or at least, battered womans shelters. Groups promoting the gun legislation have brought themselves into disrepute by promoting misleading statistics. The federal government has desecrated the democratic intent and institution of parliament. The Canadian people are still denied the whole truth. Canadians have been denied a positive, productive benefit for their tax dollars. Legitimate businesses have been driven into bankruptcy or have suffered huge losses. Honest, law abiding, firearm owning citizens have been singled out by a law which violates their charter rights in several instances. Murderous events in Toronto and other Canadian cities painfully illustrate the abject failure of the firearms laws. Despite this burden of proof, the federal government intends to forge onward with the squandering of additional, untold millions of dollars. Most striking is the realization that the events of 12 years ago could happen again today or tomorrow. The government and its allies seem incapable of accepting that violent insanity cannot be legislated away. What is apparent is that fiscal insanity has become institutionalized. __________ Paul Chicoine Non Assumsit Contract, All Rights Reserved, Without Prejudice _________________________________________________ - --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.426 / Virus Database: 239 - Release Date: 12/2/02 - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.426 / Virus Database: 239 - Release Date: 12/2/02 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:36:58 -0600 (CST) From: "Richard A. Fritze" Subject: Kipling Poem The Wrath of the Awakened Saxon - - Rudyard Kipling - It was not part of their blood, It came to them very late With long arrears to make good, When the Saxons began to hate, They were not easily moved, They were icy-willing to wait Till every count should be proved Ere the Saxons began to hate. Their voices were even and low, Their eyes were level and straight, There was neither sign nor show, When the Saxons began to hate. It was not preached to the crowd It was not taught by the State, No man spoke it aloud, When the Saxons began to hate. It was not suddenly bred, It will not swiftly abate Through the chilled years ahead When Time shall count from the date That the Saxons began to hate. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:37:02 -0600 (CST) From: "Richard A. Fritze" Subject: Re: ACICR [from the archives] Here's a letter that was published by the Edmonton Journal in 2000 [all except the last paragraph]. As I wrote earlier this week, some have been complaining about the ACICRs obvious bias and disinformation. Perhaps Alberta's Health & Wellness Minister feels it is OK to waste money on this dubious, deceitful exercise. Richard A. Fritze xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: The Edmonton Journal Letters to the Editor In his August 31st, 2000, letter to the Edmonton Journal, Louis Francescutti, who styles himself as , "MD, PhD, MPH Chair, Advisory Body Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research," states: "Some of the most common ways young children are seriously injured and killed is by not properly restraining them in motor vehicles, allowing them access to loaded weapons, not supervising them around bodies of water, and choking. " Including firearms in this list is inaccurate and misleading. From the statistics published on the Centre's own web-site, INJURY DEATHS in Alberta in 1997 from firearms for all ages rank 19th out of 27 listed categories [0.6% of all deaths - 8 out of a total of 1342]. INJURY PATIENT HOSPITALIZATIONS in 1997 from firearms for all ages rank 32nd out of 40 listed categories[0.1% of hospitalizations - 29 out of a total of 26,851]. Per the Centre's statistics for Emergency Room Visits by Cause of Injury and Age Range, "young children" injured by firearms, aged 19 and under, rank 33rd out of 40 listed categories and represent 0.03% of all such hospitalizations [46 out of a total of 128,951]. Clearly, "loaded weapons" are not among the "most common ways" that anyone, especially young children, are injured or killed. Further, the low numbers published must be treated with caution because including BB gun and pellet gun injuries with true firearms numbers tends to skew the totals. Even suicides, the leading cause of injury death among Albertans, and the second-leading cause of death among Canadian youth aged 10 - 24, "most often involve drug overdose or poisoning," according to the Centre's statistics. Surely the Chairman would know what his own Centre has calculated and published in these regards - unless his statement was a calculated attempt to mislead the public because of his own political agenda regarding firearms. Taxpayer-funded organizations such as this Centre have an obligation to truthfully inform and to refrain from injecting personal bias and disinformation when commenting in the media. Richard A. Fritze Sherwood Park, AB xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:38:02 -0600 (CST) From: GunChecker@aol.com Subject: Re: Cdn-Firearms Digest V5 #357 HEY ! Jean and Allan ! IF YOU HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY TO SPEND SEND SOME MY WAY , I GOTTO BUY THE CHEAPEST GUNS AVAILABLE ! For our economy and budgets do not permit me to buy better ....... ! J. L. ( Safe GUNNING ) ............. Play Safe ......... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:38:02 -0600 (CST) From: "Robert S. Sciuk" Subject: Our biggest problem ... The federal government has done everything in their power to make the long gun registry and "gun control" synonymous in the minds of the Canadian public. Here is a link which tries to dispel a few myths which I hope will be useful in educating those who "need to know" http://www.gunpositive.org/GunControl.pdf Cheers, R. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:38:23 -0600 (CST) From: "Bob" Subject: Repeal C-68 To: The Canadian Parliament To the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following: THAT Bill C-68, The Firearms Act, was presented to the House of Commons on February 14, 1995, and received Royal Assent on December 5, 1995, THAT the costs of implementation of Bill C-68 have exceeded the original $2 Million dollar estimate and are now projected at over $1 Billion, THAT the Canadian Government failed to inform Parliament, and by extension the Canadian Taxpayers, of the 50,000% cost overrun of implementing Bill C-68, THAT the RCMP recently announced that 25% of entries in their database were incorrect, THAT the National Firearms Registry has done little to increase public safety, THAT the Auditor General indicated in her report that, "the Program's focus had changed from high risk firearms owners to excessive regulation and enforcement of controls over all owners and their firearms." THAT the Auditor General further indicated in her report that, "The Department concluded that, as a result, the Program had become overly complex and very costly to deliver, and that it had become difficult for owners to comply with the Program." THEREFORE, your petitioners request that Parliament move to freeze further spending on implementation or privatization of the National Firearms Registry and repeal Bill C-68 in its entirety. Sincerely, The Undersigned http://www.petitiononline.com/scrapc68/petition.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:38:51 -0600 (CST) From: "Richard A. Fritze" Subject: Firearms: Terms confused, objectives misguided My letter to the Toronto Star - not yet published. In your Dec 5 edition your comment: "[The registry] can prevent violent individuals from easily purchasing guns and ammo" is not correct. You are confusing licensing with registration. Licensing is the aspect of our gun laws that is touted to prevent access to guns and ammo to violent people. Registration can only occur after a license is issued. The fact is that if someone wants to acquire a gun in Canada, neither licensing nor registration will prevent that. It's simply a matter of having the cash and the time to hang out at the appropriate locales. You state further that: "[The registry] is a deterrent to those who keep a gun under the bed for no sensible reason." Again, neither licensing nor a registry prevents this. In fact, there is an exception in our gun law regulations for storage of a gun outside of a locked container for the purpose of predator control. Some judges refer to both two-legged and four-legged predators. Our gun laws are wasting money harrassing law-abiding citizens instead of putting those resources toward MRIs, police work to apprehend criminals, immigration screening, family shelters, etc. Richard A. Fritze Tel. (780) 941 3809 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 13:46:57 -0600 (CST) From: Med Crotteau Subject: ROCK RECOGNITION T Sender: owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Reply-To: cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Please follow my train of thought, and see if there is an Instant Recognition to Alan Rock MP. Look up there it's a Plane, no it's a Bird it's............. Purple Dinasour......... The Steeple and Giraffe............... M I C K E Y mickey......................... Now if someone can come up with something other than a Wooden Nose, for Alan Rocks Billion Dollar Screw Up, he could be followed all across Canada during his run at the Leader Ship Race, with Instant Recognition as ......The Billion Dollar man ???? The media would have to be Comfortable using it, as well as the Population. Anything catchy out there? Dear Santa.........all i want for Christmas is....................!! Is that too much too ask for?? Hopefully MED ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V5 #364 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:acardin33@shaw.ca List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca FAQ list: http://www.magma.ca/~asd/cfd-faq1.html and http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html FTP Site: ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/ CFDigest Archives: http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/ or put the next command in an e-mail message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca get cdn-firearms-digest v04.n192 end (192 is the digest issue number and 04 is the volume) To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next five lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-alert unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".) 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