==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== > Date: Monday, April 24, 2000 07:13:54 > From: Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1 > Subject: GUN REGISTRY OUTREACH WILL PUSH COSTS OVER $1 BILLION > > NEWS RELEASE > April 25, 2000 > > For Immediate Release > > GUN REGISTRY OUTREACH WILL PUSH COSTS OVER $1 BILLION JUST AS PREDICTED > Access to Information documents reveal: "Fewer than 1% of Registration > Applications and 10% of Licence Applications arriving at the Central > Processing Site are without error. The intake of Licence Applications has > been about 10% of the forecast level, and is dropping." > > Yorkton - Today, Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament for Yorkton-Melville > and Official Opposition Critic on Firearms Issues, dropped another bombshell > on the Liberal government's beleaguered firearms registration scheme. > Documents obtained from the RCMP reveal plans for an Outreach Program that > proposes to hire hundreds more full time staff and pay thousands of > so-called volunteers for helping responsible firearm owners complete > application forms. "These documents show that the Minister of Justice has > approved up to $188 more to help each gun owner fill out their firearms > applications," revealed Breitkreuz. "This could easily add another half > billion in costs to the $327 million the Liberals have already wasted on > this totally useless gun registry." > > A Briefing Note prepared by RCMP Superintendent Mike Buisson, Registrar for > the Canadian Firearms Registry, dated September 10, 1999 states: "The lower > than planned application intake levels for both licences and registrations, > as well as the unacceptably higher than anticipated error rates in > applications is raising concern about the success of the firearms program." > > "Finally, the senior bureaucrats in the gun registry are acknowledging a > major problem we warned them about over a year ago," said Breitkreuz. "Last > June, the Minister's own group of firearms experts recommended that the > licencing deadline had to be extended because the bureaucracy couldn't > possibly process all the applications in the time remaining. Justice > Minister Anne McLellan ignored this common sense advice. I guess she would > rather have the whole thing blow up in her face and try to muddle through to > the next election. Then again, maybe she isn't planning to run in the next > election?" > > Another RCMP document dated November 1-2, 1999 obtained by Breitkreuz > describes the registry's dilemma: "First, the rate of errors made in the > completion of these forms has been much higher than predicted; fewer than 1% > of Registration Applications and 10% of Licence Applications arriving at the > Central Processing Site are without error. The intake of Licence > Applications has been about 10% of the forecast level, and is dropping; the > intake of Registration Applications has dropped to less than 30% of the > forecast level, and is continuing to drop. Unfortunately, since Program > Commencement, all the resources at our processing sites have been fully > utilized in processing these very low intake levels due to the high error > rate and, to a lesser extent, the relatively-poor application performance, > many inefficient processes, and staff inexperience." > > "The Liberal's solutions to this quandary are typical: Don't admit your > mistake - hire more staff and spend more money," observed Breitkreuz. The > Executive Summary explains: "The Verifier Network Team of the Canadian > Firearms Registry is proposing to implement an outreach program based on the > existing Verifier Network. The proposal involves paying Firearm Verifiers > to assist individuals in completing their Licence and Registration > applications, and providing an incentive for those Verifiers to find ways to > have applicants come forward in large numbers." > > > > ...continued on Page 2 > -2- > > Page 3 of the document explains the magnitude of what the Liberals are > proposing: "The Verifier Network is an established hierarchy of nearly 3,000 > [soon-to-be-paid] volunteer Firearms Verifiers spread across Canada in a way > that is roughly proportional to the density of firearm owners. In the > most-recently-proposed organizational structure, there are a total of 21 > Provincial Coordinators and Regional Coordinators in place in full-time > positions, and this number will grow to 35 when all the positions are > filled. These coordinators will soon be supplemented with seventy to eighty > Zone Coordinators who will work at the grassroots level with gun owners, > ranges, clubs and hunters' organizations within the communities." > Breitkreuz added, "These new positions are in addition to the nearly 1,500 > full time positions that I released to the public last week." > > Even the Province of Ontario, which publicly opted-out of the gun > registration part of the scheme and has challenged the legislation all the > way to the Supreme Court, is cooperating with the federal Liberals: "The > Province of Ontario is piloting the Zone Coordinator organization and has > begun hiring 25 people for these positions in Ontario. The primary > objective for having Zone Coordinators in place is to provide local support > for the Verifiers in the form of easily-accessible coaching and > issue-resolution capabilities, as well as face-to-face visits to track > progress and solve problems. It is proposed to use this Verifier Network, > including full-time and part-time staff and volunteers, as the core of a > field-based outreach program in which verifiers will be paid for providing > assistance to firearm owners in correctly completing Firearms Licencing and > Registration Application forms." > > "This new brainwave of an Outreach Program is based on a July 1999 pilot > project in New Perlican, Newfoundland, revealed Breitkreuz. "The document > claims this pilot project achieved 'excellent results'. Only a self-serving > bureaucrat or a desperate Minister could describe a project that employed 13 > bureaucrats to process a total of 100 licence applications and 89 > registration applications for a total cost of $19,782 ($188 per applicant or > $62 per application) as a success!" exclaimed Breitkreuz. "And this is over > and above the costs of processing the applications once they are sent to > Miramichi, NB and then on to the RCMP in Ottawa." > > Despite these high costs, the documents obtained by Breitkreuz reveal that > Anne McLellan has given the new Outreach Program her blessing: > "Nevertheless, the Minister of Justice was impressed with the results > achieved, and has encouraged the Program to follow up on the outreach > concept and to find cost-effective outreach methods that will achieve the > same, or close to the same results." > > Using the additional costs of '$188 per client' approved by the Minister, > Breitkreuz calculates that it could cost taxpayers between $470 million and > $1.2 billion to licence the remaining gun owners and register their guns. > "And this is on top of the $327 million the government has admitted it has > spent already and over and above the average of $60 million a year the > government announced they will spend for the next ten years. Does the > Minister really expect anyone to believe that licencing and registration > fees will cover this emerging billion dollar boondoggle?" asked Breitkreuz. > "Maybe she's taking lessons from Jane Stewart?" > > -30- > > Garry Breitkreuz Web Site: www.garry-breitkreuz.com > For a copy of the ATI documents, please call: > Yorkton Office: (306) 782-3309 > Ottawa Office: (613) 992-4394 > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================
