Mr. Speaker, the senators held hearings in western Canada on Bill C-68 giving many Canadians the only chance they had to be heard.
The senators heard testimony from retired town councillor Jim Barker in Dauphin, Manitoba. He estimated that by the year 2003 the town of Dauphin will have to hire two more RCMP constables and two police clerks to handle the additional workload to implement the Liberal government's flawed firearm registration scheme.
Barker testified: "The ratepayers of this town will have to budget a minimum expenditure increase of $200,000 per year. It is interesting to note that if these costs are at or near average, then the total cost to the lower levels of government in Canada for firearms registration would be around $540 million per year".
This new evidence had never been heard by Parliament before and justified the senators' decision to take their hearings on the road. Why is it that senators in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada did not give their citizens the same opportunity to be heard as voters in the west?