Evidence of meeting #14 for Public Safety and National Security in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was firearm.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
It is mostly due to socio-economic factors such as age, poverty....all right?
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Okay. So you're against the registry based on the evidence from your study.
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
I'm against the registry for two reasons.
Liberal
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
Well, I'm not only against the registry because of the study. I'm also against it because you are taking money in a time right now when we have—
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
You should be spending it on psychiatry, sir.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Absolutely. By the way, please note it was the Liberal Party that presented—
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
Well, you don't have to deal with these patients every day. I do.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
—our national suicide strategy, so we're all in favour of prevention and we're in favour of strategies.
So that means you're against the 1977 bill as well because, according to your study, that had no impact either. You're against criminal record checks and 28-day waiting periods, based on your analysis. Is that correct?
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
We have to look at the science. The science doesn't show any statistical benefit. The National Academy of Sciences has also conducted an analysis on this and they've come to the same conclusion. Dr. Mauser has also conducted a study on this and he's come to the same conclusion.
Emergency Medicine Resident, Fellowship Program of the Royal College of Physicians Canada, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, As an Individual
My personal opinion doesn't matter.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
No doubt the government relies on studies like yours and studies like Dr. Mauser's, which show that neither the registry nor the criminal checks or firearms acquisition certificates have any impact on anything. But they're cherry-picking their evidence, and they're saying, for political reasons, “let's get rid of the registry, and we won't get rid of the firearms acquisition certificate because that goes a little too far for public opinion right now”, but there are people in this room working towards that.
Mr. Rutledge, I'd like to quote from a study:A decision to kill is easier and safer to implement with a gun than with other commonly available weapons. There is less danger of effective victim resistance during the attack and the killing can be accomplished more quickly and impersonally with less sustained effort than is usually required with a knife or blunt object.
Do you agree or disagree with this?
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Okay.
Because what a lot of people who have come here opposing the registry have said.... The standard line we hear over and over again--and obviously you don't buy it, and I congratulate you for not buying it—is that it's not guns that kill people, it's people who kill people. Now obviously it's a truism: people kill people because there's somebody behind the gun. But it's easier with a gun than with another object. I think that's--
Sgt Duane Rutledge
Physically, it's a weapon that could be used...it's a distance weapon, whereas a knife is very up close and personal.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mister Marchand, you have many years experience in this area. Although I realize that you probably do not have them to hand today, I am sure you must have examples of specific cases where you consider it highly likely that a suicide was prevented either because the person did not have access to a firearm or because it had been removed from their possession shortly before they attempted to kill themselves.
Would this be a fair assessment?
Director General, Association québécoise de prévention du suicide
You are quite right. Just such an case occured in Montreal. A father had told his daughter he intended to commit suicide. She called the police and they were able to check whether any firearms were in his possession. The police were then able to go to the man’s cottage and prevent him from shooting himself with the guns he owned. The registry gave a fuller picture of the situation and therefore enabled the appropriate steps to be taken.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
That is just one isolated case but a real one nevertheless.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Ms. Monastesse, you said that people were more inclined to use your services because the gun kept next to the door had been removed. I suppose the registry made this possible.
Am I quoting you correctly?
Managing Director, Fédération de ressources d'hébergement pour femmes violentées et en difficulté du Québec, Fédération des femmes du Québec
Indeed.