Public Safety Committee on April 28th, 2015

[Heidi Rathjen]

I don't have a list. I think that's one of the reasons it would be important to have police and some representative of the chief firearms officers here to testify. As I've said, we are not experts.

The examples that I named are examples I found just doing my own research, based on media stories, and also complaints from the gun lobby. They complain about these regulations. I'm sure there is a whole list of them that I don't know about, that our group doesn't know about, that would be very relevant for this committee to hear about.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

We've certainly made note of the ones you do have.

I want to come back to Ms. Doré Lefebvre's point on classification. Could you expand on the reclassification?

Basically we have a situation now where experts—the RCMP—make the decision. The minister has ways and means of changing that decision if he or she wants to, but this legislation completely turns it on its head and it becomes strictly a political decision. I personally, having been a minister, don't know why any minister would ever want to put themselves in that position where you get the lobby coming in to say to you that they want this changed. I think it's wrong-headed.

But do you have anything further to add to that and the dangers that may pose to society by giving the minister the final say, based on political pressure?

[Heidi Rathjen]

Well, we live in a democracy. I know that we don't agree with all the laws that are passed, but we do have on the books criteria and laws regarding assault weapons that have been reinforced by the Supreme Court. That's why semi-automatic weapons that can be converted to automatic are deemed to be automatic weapons and prohibited.

It is the police, the RCMP, who have pointed out, I have to say, the dangers of these weapons, including .50 calibre weapons and other weapons with military characteristics. The police use the law as a tool to protect the public as best it can. What this law would do is that it would take away the ability of the police basically to do their job, to protect the public safety with the laws we have. It gives the minister, who has a political position, the ability to overrule any of the decisions of the RCMP regarding the proper classification of dangerous weapons with public safety in mind.

As we've seen up until now, political interests are not the same as public safety interests. They go against what the RCMP has deemed as being necessary to protect the public. For that reason, we do not agree with—

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

I'm sorry; we're over time again, Ms. Rathjen, but thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Easter. Your time has expired.

We have a couple of minutes left for Mr. Rousseau.

[Jean Rousseau, NDP, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Rathjen and Mr. Laganière, you are here because you are part of the prevention group, and prevention is nowhere mentioned in Bill C-42. You weren't even consulted. That's why you're here today, in fact.

According to you, what should be done in terms of screening and the mental health of people who wish to purchase a licence? You said that it was possible to buy firearms online. What are the repercussions of such a market? Bill C-42 says nothing about putting a stop to this kind of market. What are your thoughts?

[Heidi Rathjen]

Obviously, mental health is a key factor in screening certain people. In the screening process, there is an opportunity to check if someone has had mental health problems, and it occurs when the licence is about to be granted. This is extremely important. The possession licence granting process has been severely weakened. Bill C-19 had an enormous loophole whereby an online vendor, no matter where they were located, no longer had to check if the buyer had a valid licence. Everything is done in the dark and there is no compulsory check for a valid possession licence. It's all voluntary.

This loophole is extremely dangerous when you think of the economic incentive to sell a gun or the incentive for a dishonest individual who wishes to purchase a gun without being allowed to. We currently have assault rifles classified as unrestricted firearms that go unregistered and can be sold online without the vendor checking whether the buyer has a valid possession licence. That's where we find ourselves today.

[Jean Rousseau, NDP, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Do I still have some time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

No, your time is up.

To our witnesses Ms. Rathjen, Mr. Laganière, and Mr. Latraverse, thank you very much for your preparation and for your time here today.

Just before we adjourn, colleagues, I would like a motion to approve the budget for the meeting here. It's $16,700. Do I have concurrence to propose?

[An hon. member]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

All in favour?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Thank you very much.

We are adjourned.