'He can’t hide behind the fact, making arguments about dates for this and dates for that. This is a live issue before Parliament. The information should have been made available,' says NDP MP Jack Harris about the delay of making a report on the long-gun registry public.
PARLIAMENT HILL—RCMP Commissioner Robert Paulson told MPs this week he was not given a Mountie report supporting the long-gun registry with examples of its use fighting gun crimes until three weeks after its completion and only two days before it was hand-delivered to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews—one day too late for tabling in Parliament before a six-week winter recess.
The apparent delay, after former RCMP Commissioner William Elliott had completed the report prior to Mr. Paulson’s appointment last Nov. 21, meant that MPs and registry supporters did not see the positive report until well after a controversy over government plans to dismantle the gun-control system and after one of the most sensitive events for the Conservatives at the time—a Dec. 6 memorial anniversary of the Montreal massacre of 14 women that led to the establishment of the registry more than 15 years ago.
A spokesperson for Mr. Toews (Provencher, Alta.) and an RCMP media relations officer gave
The Hill Times conflicting views over the past week about when the Mounties delivered the report, which includes statistics showing a steady increase in use of the computer records of gun owners and their addresses, to the Public Safety Minister.
