SPEECH BY ROGER GALLAWAY, MP
MEETING OF THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
OTTAWA, OCTOBER 22, 2002
[SNIP]
Excerpt from Pages 8 and 9
Let me briefly explain responsible government. Our system was designed
to
ensure that the roles of the executive and legislative branches
should
"jealously" guard their respective roles. The legislative
branch must call
the executive to account for policy as reflected in legislation AND in
day
to day actions in the operations of departments. What has in fact
happened
is quite the opposite.
First, policy formulation is largely now a bureaucratically driven
process.
Sometimes that can be beneficial particularly when the subject matter is
of
a very technical nature. Yet technical matters can only be
adequately
addressed when there is truly expertise in government departments.
The
debacle around Kyoto is, in my opinion, proof positive that even
very
complex policy items should be left to MP's who understand the true
implications.
A good example of unchecked policy nonsense becoming the law is the
federal
gun registry, a piece of legislation I today regrettably supported. As
a
policy framework the objectives of that bill were handed over holus bolus
to
the "experts" at the federal Firearms Centre. For 85 million
dollars,
according to testimony of departmental experts, a gun registry would be
put
in place that would trace the flow of guns in Canada. This would be a
real
check on the flow of weapons to those with criminal tendencies.
Several years and perhaps a billion dollars later the bill is a shambles
-
it is a joke. You in this room know something about financial
projections,
flow sheets, costing and estimates. Can you imagine being out on an
estimate by 1250% or twelve and half times wrong?
Do you not reasonably think there should be some repercussions for those
who
devised and promoted this policy and law? I can only tell you that
nothing
has occurred while crime rates involving guns remain the same.
Another expensive dismal failure that came from a top down expert
driven
policy based law. It is any wonder Canadians, and I count you among
the
sceptics, question just what and how this can be? What happened to
the
legislative branch checks on the exclusive legislative agenda?
The answer is simple. There was virtually none when the gun bill
was
passed. There is virtually none today. Members have little input on
policy
and virtually no impact on legislation. Most government members have
little
idea how to oppose bad legislation. I ask you (and do not expect an
answer): What is responsible in that?
[SNIP]
Name: Roger Gallaway, MP
Party: Liberal Caucus
Constituency: Sarnia-Lambton
Province: Ontario
Telephone: (613) 957-2649
Fax: (613) 957-2655
Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
_______________________
Scott MacLean
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ: 9184011
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