Vote to be taken under election threat
Ottawa - Friday, March 20, 2003 - by: John Herron
No back door	Last December the House of Commons said "No" to the Liberal government's request for an extra $72 million to run the Canadian Firearms Program until March 31, 2003, the end of the government's budget year. On Tuesday Liberal Members of Parliament are faced with reversing themselves. The sad tale of gross mismanagement that led to this was not brought forward to Parliament by the Government, but by the Auditor General, Sheila Fraser. Members from all Parties, including those of the Liberal Party, were aghast not only at the amount of overspending, but at the manner in which it had been done. Over 70% of the nearly $860 million more than projected, coming through the back door in "supplementary estimates."
$59 million	Well, Prime Minister Chretien and his Ministers were undismayed. They are back again, this time asking for a "mere" $59 million to cover what they will have spent until the end of this month despite the December vote.
can take no	The government did not fall and Canadians were not forced into an election as a result of the vote last December. The government ignored it. Now, however, Prime Minister Chretien will not take no for an answer!
failing programme	Liberal Members of Parliament are being threatened with expulsion from the party caucus. The country is being threatened with an election. Chretien has declared that the $59 million already spent against the vote of the House of Commons, a vote of confidence. He will, doing the same for the $113 million more, to be poured into this failed programme in the coming year.
bottomless pit	What does your Member of Parliament say? Where does your Member of Parliament stand on throwing still more money into the bottomless pit of the Canadian Long Gun Registry Program? Long guns, your Uncle's hunting rifle or a farmer's shotgun. Not handguns which in law have had to be registered since the 1930's.
March 25th	Members of Parliament will be voting in the House of Commons on Supplementary Estimates "B" on March 25th 2003. They will be voting to accept or reject the spending that took place in spite of their vote in December.
call your MP	Call your Member of Parliament and ask that this mismanagement be ended. Ask your Member of Parliament to say NO to still more funding for this programme that has done nothing to end increasing violence by gangs using illegal weapons.
siphoning resources	The Canadian Firearms Registry is nothing more than a money pit. The firearms registration system is siphoning off important resources that could be better spent on more effective measures to fight crime. On ensuring the battles that are taking place using illegal weapons in some of our cities are ended or on catching criminals rather than on criminalizing responsible citizens.
	John Herron Member of Parliament Rundy Royal New Brunswick
Reference:
	Biography of John Herron
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