Mr. Speaker, the Senate has now passed the infamous firearms legislation. For some it may be considered a victory but it is a very hollow victory at best.
The government has made some vague promises of safer streets and safer homes by introducing mandatory registration of rifles and shotguns. The Minister of Justice has never explained how cracking down on law-abiding citizens is going to prevent the criminal misuse of firearms. Obviously, criminals are not going to register anything they own.
I believe the legislation is nothing more than a very thin smoke screen to offer a false sense of safety to Canadians who are
concerned about the growing crime problem in this country and to take pressure off a government that seems unwilling to do anything meaningful about it.
There is a tremendous cost involved in the legislation. The set-up cost is $118.9 million by the minister's own figures, and registration itself will cost hundreds of millions more.
At a time when we are seeing federal cutbacks in transfer payments for health care, post-secondary education and various social programs, should the government not be reconsidering its priorities and refocusing the spending of what money it has in areas more meaningful than the registration of firearms belonging to law-abiding taxpayers in this country?