Mr. Speaker, I will try to make my question as brief as possible, although I have some background information I would like to read.
I am sure the House will recall that back in 1995 we passed a bill known as Bill C-68 which required the registration of all firearms in Canada. What Bill C-68 essentially does is it lays a piece of paper beside every gun in the country. That law is not yet fully implemented. Less than 25% of the firearms in Canada have registration certificates beside them. In fact, that percentage could even be below 10% if we could get the information from the government.
Back in 1995 a man by the name of Bob Runciman, the Ontario solicitor general, made a statement before the committee. I will read it to the House because I think it is very indicative of the missed priorities of the government. Mr. Runciman said:
Our position is that the sections of Bill C-68 that provide for compulsory registration of all firearms will divert police resources from more important tasks. Those sections (of Bill C-68) will reduce the number of officers and the amount of money available to deal with serious crime. They will make the real task of gun control more difficult and more dangerous for the police officers who undertake it. And those provisions will ultimately have no significant impact on violent crime, or the use of firearms by violent criminals.
He then went on to say that if we were to spend $500 million on this registry we could put 5,900 more police on the street. Those 5,900 extra police on the street would make a significant impact on that. What is happening today?