Mr. Speaker, that is what happens when we run out of time. There is no Quebec firearms registry. The firearms registry is federal, but, in Quebec, it operates under the chief firearms officer. Quebec was involved in the implementation of the registry. It issues all the required licences, as do all the provinces that have agreed to do so.
The problem is as follows: money needs to be transferred to the provinces and funding agreements have to be reached. Why are we talking about money today after setting up a federal registry?
A registry does not operate on its own. Firearms have to be registered, licences have to be issued and a chief firearms officer has to be appointed. The Quebec police also needs to go over all the records and the problems related to the criminal use of firearms.
These are the administrative issues for which Quebec needs to negotiate some kind of agreement. Elsewhere in Canada, if the provinces do not want to bother with it, the federal government has to take over. Since several provinces have decided not to get involved, the federal government has to do the work.
But Quebec has assumed its responsibilities. The federal government once more has made use of this popularity. Just think: more than 80% of people in Quebec are in favour of the firearms registry. The Bloc Quebecois is in favour of the firearms registry, but not in favour of the administration provided by the Liberal government.
Although the registry was supposed to cost $2 million, today we are up to $778 million. Where will we be in a year and a half?
I am having trouble hearing the minister, but I want to say one thing, Mr. Speaker, but the minister must listen. The cost to establish the registry is now up to $778 million, and one third of the people are not even registered. That means it has cost that much to be able to register two thirds of the firearms, with people registering voluntarily. There is a problem. How is it possible for it to cost so much when people are registering voluntarily?
The government has asked for supplementary funds for this purpose. We had to vote in favour because we want the registry to exist, but we do not want to give it carte blanche or blank cheques to continue with the current disaster and political and financial fiasco. The government is asking for $60 million and $78 million to manage a registry that never should have cost this kind of money. That is what we must keep in mind.
A registry will not cost a billion dollars every time if the people who administer it do what they should. I just want to warn the House. Do not forget that, despite the amounts of money being requested, one third of firearms owners are not yet registered. In other words, these are clearly the people who will not register voluntarily, because they have not yet done so. Steps will have to be taken to get the system working. We will have to be alert and watch what is happening. A firearms registry, in principle, is not a bad thing but the way it is being managed certainly is.