From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V6 #278 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 Tuesday, July 15 2003 Volume 06 : Number 278 In this issue: PEI Attorney General FW: [Fcalerts-list] U.N. Beating Guns Drums Ruling on Mountie sends disturbing message Power politics Bear warning issued in St. John area True in 1788....True in 2003..... Big security agency eyed Shooting renews gun debate RFC Ottawa: Letter to the Editor Re Don McMurter Taxing flatulence just more Kyoto hot air Re: Shooting renews gun debate Gun registry staff spent $13M on travel: Hospitality bill close to $500,000 for six years ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:42:57 -0600 (CST) From: Edward Hudson Subject: PEI Attorney General Honourable Jeffrey E. Lantz, Attorney General, PEI P.O. Box 2000 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 7N8 Friday, 27June2003 Dear Mr Lantz, Re: The Repeal of the Firearms Act I regret that you have not taken the principled stand of your fellow provincial attorneys general in protecting the responsible citizens of Prince Edward Island from the evil intent of the Firearms Act. Your unconscionable decision to use provincial resources to prosecute will only delay the eventual repeal of this unjust law. As long as the Firearms Act remains one of the statutes of Canada, our Liberties guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are not secure. We submit the enclosed packet of information which contains evidence of our willful contravention of the Firearms Act. We would be most obliged if you would have us arrested. We want to be charged for contravening the Firearms Act so that we can demonstrate in court how the Firearms Act violates our Rights and Freedoms, specifically our rights to privacy, security of person, presumption of innocence, association, representation, mobility, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. To achieve our goal we will convene on the steps of the Prince Edward Island Legislative Building on Wednesday, 16 July 2003 at Noon to declare our intention never to surrender our Liberty to this unjust law. We would be most grateful if you would have the Sergeant-at-Arms ensure that the RCMP are on hand. We will peacefully and nonviolently await arrest for the “crime” of protecting the most sacred values we as responsible citizens enjoy in a free society. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Sincerely, Edward B. Hudson DVM, MS Secretary, CUFOA Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association 402 Skeena Crt Saskatoon Saskatchewan S7K 4H2 1-306-230-8929 (cell) 1-306-242-2379 edwardhudson@shaw.ca www.cufoa.ca CC: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien Wayne Easter, Solicitor General of Canada Garry Breitkreuz, MP ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:52:37 -0600 (CST) From: "Jim Pook" Subject: FW: [Fcalerts-list] U.N. Beating Guns Drums - -----Original Message----- From: fcalerts-list-admin@nealknox.com [mailto:fcalerts-list-admin@nealknox.com]On Behalf Of Neal Knox Alerts List Sent: July 14, 2003 1:28 PM Subject: [Fcalerts-list] U.N. Beating Guns Drums July 14 Neal Knox Update - Even the Pope got involved in last week's United Nations push to ban "Illicit" firearms trafficking - which they consider to be anything except carefully regulated sales between governments. The Vatican's U.N. ambassador was all for the international gun control scheme as were virtually all nations except the U.S. It's particularly popular in Canada, Japan, and brutal dictatorships. There was a lot of hype in the foreign press, though not much that I saw in the U.S. Canada offered to help other nations create a national gun registration system like their own - which is projected to cost over $1 billion. Canada's U.N. representatives weren't pleased when Canadian opponents of the system uncovered evidence a few days ago -- and announced at the meeting -- that a rifle stolen a decade ago, and long entered in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police listing of stolen guns, had been registered three times since the theft. When the registered owner tried to sell the gun June 29 the sale was blocked. Advocates said that showed the system worked. Right. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 17:03:36 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Ruling on Mountie sends disturbing message http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/letters/story.asp?id=C54ECEFD-9A80-47B0-9480-FD2434DE19B2 Ruling on Mountie sends disturbing message Leona Schell The StarPhoenix LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Monday, July 14, 2003 Re Ruling allows RCMP officer to avoid criminal record (SP July 5). This is what's wrong with the criminal justice system. Whatever happened to common sense? A crime happens. It is reported. Is the law to be followed, or should it be interpreted and adjusted to suit the criminal? In this case, an officer of the law, sworn to protect the public, was charged and found guilty of an egregious act on another human being, without regard for her person or for her husband, present in the same room. In my view, the "old boys' mentality" clicked in again to suggest that this wasn't such a bad offence: All he did was to penetrate her digitally. After all, they had been drinking. He should not pay such an extreme price. However, the message to many people is that we are not accountable for our actions if we are too drunk, too important or hold an important office. The message is that abusing yourself with alcohol allows you certain exemptions from the law, even if you are sworn to uphold that very law. Intoxicated citizens deserve even more protection because of their inability to protect themselves. It was, indeed, that state of vulnerability which allowed this officer to take advantage of his victim. There is a double standard at play when the officer's state of intoxication allows him an excuse but gives his victim an added burden of accountability. It is the very practice of turning a blind eye to the infractions of the members of police forces that allows the behaviours as we have seen portrayed in the recent past, such as "starlight tours" and abuse of public trust. Leona Schell Saskatoon © Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 17:17:13 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Power politics http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/editorials/story.asp?id=314C31B7-830B-4999-A653-BAF3D173F1E7 Power politics The Ottawa Citizen EDITORIAL Monday, July 14, 2003 Beware of electoral reforms that benefit the party in power Campaign finance reform always has a virtuous, Mr.-Smith-Goes-To-Washington appeal, as supporters seek to take power away from special interests and give it back to the people. But in real life, politicians tighten the rules to protect themselves from their rivals and, ultimately, from us, the voters. That's certainly true of the Liberal plan, contained in the recently passed Bill C-24 to replace private funding of elections with public funding. The reasoning behind this proposal to limit corporate and union donations to $1,000, and reduce the maximum personal contribution to $10,000 from $5,000, ought to put voters on their guard. The Liberals are the largest recipients of corporate largess, but insist they have not been corrupted by the money, so what they're really saying is that the problem doesn't exist. Instead, we are told that it's a matter of appearance, that a perception exists that donated money is corrupting politics (even though it's not). In other words, the politicians say they aren't doing anything bad, but the public is stupid because it thinks they are. Beware of any law with that premise. Beware also of any law that lets those in office decide who will get to challenge them and on what grounds. The Liberals have been rebuffed repeatedly by the courts in their attempts to regulate speech during elections, but they keep on trying, knowing that they have a lot more money than their adversaries and that they only need to win once. Right now, they're dragging the National Citizens Coalition through the courts for daring, during an election, to run an ad opposing election campaign finance laws. If the government wins, you'll have to ask the chief electoral officer for permission to spend more than $500 to convey your opinion during an election, and he won't have to let you. The politicians, on the other hand, can talk as much as they want, whether you want them to or not. Bill C-24 makes doubly sure of it. The Liberals don't want to drive most private money out of elections and then hand out cheap mimeographs. Instead, they plan to fund political parties with gobs of public money based on how well each party did last time around. That means the "in" party -- which by golly is them -- gets a lot more than the "out" party, and new parties are just about shut out completely. How convenient, orderly and unfree. (Just imagine how such a system would have blocked the rise of the Reform and Bloc Québécois parties in the 1993 federal election.) In a democracy, it is wrong to forbid free people and their associations from giving money to the candidates and causes they favour, in whatever amount they would like, and to try to stop them speaking out just because an election is underway. Voters concerned about big money in politics can insist that candidates disclose the sources of their funding and they can refuse to support any candidates who won't. Electors can even refuse to support governing parties that get to help themselves to voters' money whether they like it or not, and in much larger amounts than, presumably, any of their political opponents. If Mr. Smith wants to go to Washington -- or Ottawa -- let him pay his own way. © Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 17:34:46 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Bear warning issued in St. John area http://www.canada.com/halifax/specials/atlantic/story.html?id=3DED4AAA-C5F6-42A1-B947-94BDD22D67A8 Bear warning issued in St. John area Broadcast News Monday, July 14, 2003 Visitors are usually welcome in Saint John, New Brunswick. But not when they're furry and ill-mannered. The Department of Natural Resources is warning outdoor enthusiasts to be on the lookout for bears. The warning comes after a second bear in the Saint John area challenged a man out walking. The animal didn't run after meeting the man on a path, and continued on towards him despite being yelled at and having rocks tossed at him. The area where the bear was spotted is much too hilly for traps to be set, so the department will most likely put the bear down if it is caught. The department is recommending people hike in groups, stay in the open as much as possible and keep children close at hand on trails. © Copyright 2003 Broadcast News ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:06:41 -0600 (CST) From: Ed Tait Subject: True in 1788....True in 2003..... There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. - -- James Madison Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention [June 16, 1788] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:14:10 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Big security agency eyed http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/07/14/135630.html Mon, July 14, 2003 Big security agency eyed By MARIA MCCLINTOCK - Ottawa Bureau, Sun Media OTTAWA -- The federal government has been researching if a new department should be created to mirror the U.S. Homeland Security office, Sun Media has learned. Senior federal government sources have confirmed the Privy Council Office has done research on the notion. "They're pretty far along. It's in the plan (for) the (leadership) transition that there will be some change with machinery," a source familiar with the issue said this week. "They're studying it right now, in the sense of how they can make it work." PCO spokesman Francois Jubinville confirmed the idea has been studied, but said there has been no direction given to take action. Whether such a plan would ever come to fruition would be up to Prime Minister Jean Chretien's successor, expected to be Paul Martin. Martin recently said he favours going beyond the special cabinet security committee formed by Chretien following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "I think what we're looking at is much broader than that," Martin said in an interview in April. But security committee chairman, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, has said he'd be reluctant to go down the road of forming a new government department. "There's a consideration being given to (a Canadian department of homeland security)," Manley said last month following a committee meeting. "Public servants are always studying possible changes to the structure of government ... I indicated my reluctance to see a big machinery change." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:15:03 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Shooting renews gun debate http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/07/14/135631.html Mon, July 14, 2003 Shooting renews gun debate 3 teens arrested in air pistol drive-by By JONATHAN KINGSTONE - Toronto Sun TORONTO (CP) -- As a five-year-old boy remained in hospital Monday with an air-pistol pellet lodged near his brain, safety and gun-control groups renewed calls to have the realistic-looking firearms banned in Canada. Two adults and a 17-year-old who cannot be named appeared in court Monday, charged with various offences after a pellet shot at little Kadin Kendall hit his right eye during a half-hour shooting spree. The shots were fired from a moving car near the grounds of Exhibition Place as crowds were leaving the Molson Indy auto race. The boy's condition was upgraded from critical to fair late Monday afternoon, and doctors said the boy has retained vision in the eye and will not require surgery to remove the pellet at this time, said the hospital. Emile Therien of the Canada Safety Council called it a "brutal, despicable act," but one which is not isolated. Therien's group, in fact, asked the federal government to ban fake guns - -- such as air, pellet and starter guns, and guns which just look like real pistols -- several years ago but to no avail. "They're as easy to buy as comic books," Therien said from Ottawa, noting that they can be purchased widely at sporting-goods stores. "They are inherently dangerous consumer products." Research by Therien's group shows, fake guns are recovered in crime nearly as often as handguns. Each year alone, more than 50 children under age 18 require hospital care for air-gun injuries, he added. Toronto police couldn't give exact figures on how many fake guns are seized in criminal activity. But Det.-Sgt. Randy Smith of the city police's gang gun task force said police take fake guns just as seriously as real ones. "They're made to look like firearms and if used as such can be classified as a firearm or replica of one, and you can be charged accordingly," Smith said in an interview. In the case of Kadin Kendall, a team of doctors, including a brain surgeon, was called in to examine him after he arrived at the hospital. Police said a number of shots were fired from two pellet guns as a crowd of spectators left the Molson racing event at Exhibition Place along the lakeshore around 5 p.m. Sunday. The half-hour shooting spree included shots fired at signs and other objects, with one striking the boy. A 27-year-old man was also shot in the forearm and was being treated Monday in hospital, police said. A nearby ambulance rushed the boy to the hospital after the incident. The air-pistol guns are commonly sold at sporting-goods stores. Jake Joseph Mercure and Stephen Collins, both 18, were charged with aggravated assault and various weapons offences. They made a brief court appearance Monday and were remanded until their bail hearings Thursday. The 17-year-old also made a brief appearance in youth court. According to the Coalition for Gun Control, which has offices in Toronto and Montreal, fake guns are especially a problem among young people because they can so easily be obtained. The coalition's Web site lists dozens of examples of cases involving youth conducting illegal activity with fake guns. They include a 17-year-old in Toronto who was arrested for pointing an air pistol at another student in class in May 2001; two teens who threatened to shoot and kill their high school classmates with a BB gun in April 2001; and a 13-year-old boy who was disciplined for bringing a pellet gun to an elementary school in Quesnel, B.C. in March, 2001. Federal law states that because of the velocity of pellets in air guns - -- less than 152 metres per second -- they're not considered a firearm and therefore cannot be restricted for sale, meaning pretty much anyone can buy one. However, Therien said lightweight pellets allow many air guns to fire a pellet at speeds faster than the legal threshold in Canada's firearms law. He said it's incomprehensible that there are no laws to address fake guns, when even plush toys are regulated under the federal Hazardous Products Act. The safety council was also involved in the successful lobby several years ago to have lawn darts banned. "Air guns have wreaked more havoc and injury than many products regulated under federal gun-control legislation," said Therien. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:51:12 -0600 (CST) From: Al Dorans Subject: RFC Ottawa: Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor July 15, 2003 Why am I not surprised that firearms critic Paul Blisset (July, 18) works inside the federal government in the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada? Blisset's distortions begin with the false assumption that I am an anti-gun control crusader. Wrong! Members of Canada's Recreational Firearms Community (RFC) protect Canadian freedoms. Gun owners are in favor of reasonable firearms legislation that reduces crime, saves lives, is cost effective and contributes to public safety. They endorse the rule of law and oppose the rule of bad law. They are not in favor of Bill C-68 that violates 10 Constitutional rights, 12 Charter freedoms, all 7 Privacy rights and our Information rights. Neither are 8 provincial and 3 territorial governments, representing 58-72% of Canadians, in favor of supporting this needless, useless legislation. Contrary to the tiny minority of anti gun social engineers who want to inflict their wills on the majority of Canadians, members of the RFC habitually cite primary sources and authoritative references for media validation of the truth. Most Canadians have no idea what is contained in C-68. According to Mauser and Buckner (1997), only 200 citizens out of 31 million know Canada's 1600 pages of complex gun laws. Therefore, polling the uninformed is flawed. Both researchers did note, however, that once Canadians became more informed on Canada's gun laws, support for C-68 dropped like a stone. Perhaps this explains why the latest Ipsos Reid poll shows that 53% of Canadians want to see the gun registry scrapped. Professor Al Dorans Director, RFC Ottawa Chairman, FED UP Canada ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 23:04:31 -0600 (CST) From: awpaob@telus.net Subject: Re Don McMurter If anyone knows Don I have some info for him but lost his E mail address please ask him to get in touch with me tks Al "FREEDOM" For those who Fought, Bled and Died For It " FREEDOM " has a FLAVOR THE PROTECTED will Never Know or Savor. Anonymous ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 08:44:21 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Taxing flatulence just more Kyoto hot air http://www.canada.com/globaltv/lastword/story.html?id=E977C2E3-5330-4F2B-9463-3D2CA452038E Taxing flatulence just more Kyoto hot air Global Television Monday, July 14, 2003 New Zealand farmers call it the Farm Animal Ruminant Tax - get it, the F-A-R-T tax. And they are outraged about it. In June, the New Zealand government announced that beginning next year it would levy a tax of about a dollar per cow and 15 cents per sheep because -- wait for it -- the animals' flatulence is contributing to global warming. That's right, New Zealand's government is worried that as the country's 10 million cows and 45 million sheep graze in their pastures, the gaseous substance they backwardly expel may be wafting up into the atmosphere and causing the Earth to warm. So -- I'm not making this up -- in order to meet its commitments to the Kyoto accord, New Zealand is going to tax cow toots in hopes that will somehow prompt farmers to find a way of limiting the methane their livestock emit. The average farmer faces a $300 annual charge. Canada is the only major industrial country -- the only one -- to take Kyoto seriously. The United States, Australia and China have opted out of the deal. Russia is balking. Japan and Europe have ratified, but haven't made serious emission-reduction commitments. However, in New Zealand, Canada may at last have found a country as loopy as we are about Kyoto. A flatulence tax may not stop global warming, but a tax on politicians' emissions might cut down on some hot air. I'm Lorne Gunter of the Edmonton Journal and that's The Last Word. © Copyright 2003 Global Television ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 08:45:54 -0600 (CST) From: "John E. Stevens" Subject: Re: Shooting renews gun debate At 09:15 PM 7/14/2003 -0600, you wrote: >http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/07/14/135631.html >Mon, July 14, 2003 >Shooting renews gun debate >3 teens arrested in air pistol drive-by >By JONATHAN KINGSTONE - Toronto Sun > >[snip] >Emile Therien of the Canada Safety Council called it a "brutal, >despicable act," but one which is not isolated. Gee, Emile. Could this possibly be one more failure or the registration system? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 08:47:00 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Gun registry staff spent $13M on travel: Hospitality bill close to $500,000 for six years NOTE: Versions of this article also appeared in: The Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Province, Victoria Times Colonist, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, and the Kingston Whig-Standard. PUBLICATION: National Post DATE: 2003.07.15 EDITION: National SECTION: Canada PAGE: A7 BYLINE: Tim Naumetz SOURCE: CanWest News Service DATELINE: OTTAWA ILLUSTRATION: Black & White Photo: Jeff McIntosh, The Canadian Press /James Bachynsky of The Shooting Edge, a Calgary firing range, takes aim last December. (Photo ran All but Toronto) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gun registry staff spent $13M on travel: Hospitality bill close to $500,000 for six years - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTTAWA - The Canadian Firearms Centre spent $13-million on travel over six years and nearly $500,000 on hospitality during the same period, a government financial statement shows. The statement was compiled when KPMG accountants conducted an audit of the controversial gun program this year, but it was not released publicly when the firm submitted its final report to Martin Cauchon, the Minister of Justice. The statement, obtained under the Access to Information Act, shows the centre spent $318,084 on hospitality in one year, 1997-98, when the Firearms Act took effect. In total, the centre spent $493,287 on hospitality between 1995-96 and 2001-02. Mr. Cauchon made public a KPMG report on part of the firearm centre's expenditures and cost accounting last January after Sheila Fraser, the Auditor-General, released a scathing report in December that revealed spending on the firearms program had ballooned to $1-billion from an original forecast net cost of $2-million. The KPMG report included a breakdown of the centre's expenditures for 2001 and 2002, but it did not contain the six-year financial report. A senior assistant to Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz, the leading opposition critic of the gun registry in the House of Commons, said he was shocked by the amount spent on travel and entertaining. "How could they possibly waste this much money on travel and hospitality expenses," asked Dennis Young, Mr. Breitkreuz' specialist on the firearms program. Mr. Young noted Mr. Breitkreuz last month received Access to Information disclosures that revealed the former chief executive officer for the firearms centre, Gary Webster, spent $209,000 over two years commuting to the centre's office in Ottawa from his Edmonton home. Mr. Young questioned whether other senior officials working on the gun program also had special commuting privileges and compared the travel and hospitality bills to the extravagant spending style that forced former privacy commissioner George Radwanski to resign. "There must have been a lot of bureaucrats commuting to Ottawa every week, like Webster, or eating at Radwanski's favourite restaurants," Mr. Young said. A spokesman for the firearms centre was unable to explain the travel and hospitality costs. Communications advisor David Austin, who joined the centre three years ago, said one explanation could be that the Justice Department consulted widely with firearms stakeholder groups across Canada as regulations for the Firearms Act were being developed. "I've got no way of tracking that one down. Literally, that would be a search of the records," Mr. Austin said. "How are they ever going to find that one? It would be individuals, going back and digging up accounts." The financial statement said the firearms centre spent $688- million over the six-year period, although Ms. Fraser argued last December that the figure did not include all spending by other departments and agencies on the gun registry. The previously secret statement shows the centre spent $484,229 relocating employees and $1.1-million on "training and development." It spent $73,911 on "membership fees" and a further $55,587 on "conference and travel fees." The largest single cost was $221,715,961 for contract services, including the centre's initial computer system for the gun registry, which is being replaced because it was unable to handle demand. The centre spent a further $7.9-million on informatics equipment, $13-million for professional services, $9-million for office supplies and $29.3-million for advertising. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V6 #278 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:akimoya@cogeco.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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