Robert Dutil, Quebec’s public security minister, said Thursday the province will go ahead with plans to take the Harper government to court once Bill C-19, adopted Wednesday in the House of Commons, becomes law.
Bill C-19 calls for destruction of all long-gun registry records and on Thursday Michael Patton, communications director for federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said, “We have no intention of turning over the information.”
Dutil wants to recover data on gun ownership in Quebec, which police in the province say they consult between 700 and 750 times daily, to check whether people they deal with may be armed.
“We will use this recourse with all our might,” Dutil said.
Bill C-19 would destroy the registry data and even overrides the Library and Archives of Canada Act and the Privacy Act so that no archive copies of the gun records would exist.
The Conservative government has criticized the registration process for its cost as well, saying as much as $2 billion was spent to create the registry, an estimate disputed by the Liberals who adopted the law requiring gun owners to register their weapons when they were in government.
“Yes, it cost too much to establish, but it will not cost much to maintain,” the minister said.
Bernard Drainville, of the Parti Québécois, called on Premier Jean Charest in the National Assembly question period to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to ensure the records are handed over to Quebec.
Charest remained seated, allowing Dutil to answer for him that Quebec has tried several times to get the data, that the assembly voted unanimously for such a transfer, but now Quebec will take the matter to court.
Drainville quoted Suzanne Laplante-Edward, mother of Anne-Marie Edward, who was a 21-year-old engineering student at the Université de Montréal’s École Polytechnique when the gunman, after asking men students to leave, shot to death Edward and 13 other women on Dec. 6, 1989.
“They will feast, they will dance on the graves of our girls. It is a horrible, odious,” Drainville read out Laplante-Edward’s words, imagining the celebration by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative caucus held Wednesday on the adoption of Bill C-19.
Drainville said destruction of the registry is “just a matter of time,” since the Conservatives have a majority in the Senate.
Dutil agreed with Drainville that the Tory celebration of the passage of Bill C-19 was “totally inappropriate.”
He said he understands the Conservatives were committed to abolishing the registry, viewing it as an inconvenience for farmers and hunters.
“We take note, but I think there is no reason to rejoice,” the Quebec minister said.
“The Canadian population is extremely divided on this issue,” Dutil added.
Ironically, Dutil, who represents the Quebec riding of Beauce-Sud, shares voters with Maxim Bernier, the federal MP for Beauce riding, a libertarian Conservative and a vocal supporter of Bill C-19.
Dutil announced in December he intended to take the federal government to court, winning praise from Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, who said then that Quebec was “stepping in to protect Canadians where the federal government is failing.”
Among others supporting Dutil’s legal challenge are Yves Francoeur, president of the Montreal Police Brotherhood, Montreal police chief Marc Parent, as well as women’s groups and the Quebec Suicide Prevention Association.
Original Article
Source: montreal gazette
Author: Kevin Dougherty
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