Speaker under fire for alleged gun bias Milliken told firearm-control critic he was 'half-brained'
Bill Curry National Post
Friday, March 14, 2003
OTTAWA - House Speaker Peter Milliken is facing accusations of bias following the emergence of a heated letter in which he called a gun-control critic "pig-headed" and "half-brained," and said he wants a total firearms ban.
Mr. Milliken has increasingly been asked to resolve conflicts over the Liberal government's handling of the controversial gun registry. In recent weeks, he has sided with Cabinet in his rulings, and is to deliver two more related rulings as early as next week.
But this week, MPs and Senators received copies of 1998 correspondence between Mr. Milliken and two St. Catharines men in which the then-deputy speaker positioned himself as a committed gun foe and insulted the anti-registry letter writers.
In March, 1998, Gilbert Pinney, an armoured car driver, wrote to Mr. Milliken suggesting that the new Firearms Act was based on faulty statistics and should be reconsidered. Mr. Milliken, MP for Kingston responded less then two weeks later on "Deputy Speaker" letterhead.
"I am shocked at your foolish letter," responded Mr. Milliken, who was elected Speaker in 2001. "After the recent shootings in the United States by these young children and their schoolmates, I am surprised that anyone with half a brain would write suggesting we loosen our gun control laws. The American experience gives sound reason for us to legislate much tougher controls to lessen the chances of such a tragedy. Only the pig-headed would oppose such a move."
The letter prompted an April, 1998, reply from John Gayder, an officer with the Niagara Parks Police force, who told Mr. Milliken his friend Mr. Pinney is neither pig-headed or half-brained.
"As a currently serving police officer, I share [Mr. Pinney's] concern about spending such a large amount of scarce law enforcement resources on such questionable undertakings as Bill C-68," Mr. Gayder wrote.
Mr. Milliken again responded quickly: "I think the approach that you and Mr. Pinney are urging is responsible for thousands of deaths in this country. I would happily pass legislation banning people from having guns were I given the opportunity to vote for such legislation."
Mr. Pinney sent copies of the correspondence to all Members of Parliament this week with a cover letter noting Mr. Milliken recently shot down Liberal MP Roger Gallaway's claim that the decision to withdraw part of the program's funding in December was an indication Parliament lacked confidence in the Firearms Act.
"Shouldn't a fair Parliamentarian and gentleman exclude himself by referring judgment on this issue to a deputy?" Mr. Pinney asks in the letter.
Mr. Milliken was not available to comment, but Colette Dery, a spokeswoman, said Mr. Milliken's "vehement" language was likely due to five shootings at U.S. schools in the previous six months.
Ms. Dery also said deputy speakers are allowed to vote in the House, and are not required to maintain the same level of impartiality expected of the Speaker.
"While there's no disputing that the views he would have held in 1998 are one thing and [he was] quite entitled to them then, it's a whole different ballgame when he became Speaker, where his impartiality had to be unquestioned," she said.
In an interview, Mr. Gayder said he and Mr. Pinney are members of local sporting clubs and have written to many MPs over the years, but never received a response like Mr. Milliken's.
"I don't think they were very polite and they do show he has his heels dug in pretty strongly on this issue. He seems to be resistant to any sort of reasoning on it and as such, Gill and I are both concerned about his impartiality," he said.
Members of Parliament were reluctant to comment on Mr. Milliken's letters yesterday, given that it is considered unparliamentary to criticize the Speaker.
Garry Breitkreuz, a Canadian Alliance MP who is currently waiting on a Speaker's ruling regarding allegations the Justice Minister did not properly table firearms documents in Parliament, said Mr. Milliken continues to have his support.
"I respect Peter Milliken and the Speaker rules on procedural matters and I really believe he puts policy matters behind him when he does that," he said.
However, Mr. Breitkreuz did criticize the idea of banning all firearms, which he said other Liberals have expressed. "There are some who definitely do feel that way but I would hope it would be just a minority that feel that way because that is not a healthy attitude," he said.
Jim Turnbull, president of the Canadian Unregistered Firearms Association, said Mr. Milliken's comments confirm his suspicions the government wants a total ban. "That's exactly what they're trying to do. They would like to have absolutely no firearms in Canada outside the police and the army and that's certainly not a democracy."
The federal gun licensing system came into effect on Jan. 1, 2001, and the gun registry laws came into force on Jan. 1, 2003.
Last December, the Auditor-General reported that Parliament has been kept in the dark as the program's costs grew from an estimated $2-million in 1995 to $688-million this year, and they would likely pass the $1-billion mark by 2005.
