Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to talk about the Government of Canada's dedication and commitment to public safety and to the firearms program.
The gun control program is designed to enhance public safety and to reduce the number of firearm related injuries and deaths. The program is keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have these firearms and helping those who do have the firearms in their efforts to be responsible and accountable for their use. The program is also providing police with valuable investigative tools to prevent crime and to cut down on gun smuggling. This is what police officers themselves are telling us.
Both the licensing and registration are key elements in achieving the program safety objectives. Licensing ensures that firearm owners meet high public safety standards while the registration links one owner to one firearm ensuring greater accountability. The registration of all firearms enables law enforcement officers across Canada to track firearms, to identify stolen firearms and to distinguish legally owned firearms from those acquired illegally. Registration also facilitates the enforcement of probation orders and allows police to take preventive action, such as removing firearms from situations of domestic violence.
It is quite interesting, and perhaps the members from the opposite side might like to hear this and learn from this, that the police find both licensing and registration to be valuable in their work.
At a news conference this past January David Griffin, the executive officer for the Canadian Police Association stated:
We… consider the licensing of firearms owners and the registration of firearms to be a valuable public safety tool for front-line police officers... It would be irresponsible to suspend or abandon any element of this program, now that it is starting to deliver the intended results.
This comes straight from the mouth of David Griffin, executive officer for the Canadian Police Association.
Police officers have access to certain information contained in the firearms registry. This information is gathered in the firearms registry online, also known as CFRO. Law enforcement officers have queried the system for information regarding individuals who may own firearms or may have firearms in their possession more than two million times since it was launched on December 1, 1998. They did this for the safety of Canadians.
These police officers have received information about the number and types of firearms that may be involved in the course of an investigation which they are currently conducting. Police officers en route to a call from a residence have been able to find out in seconds if a firearm licence or a registration certificate is listed for that residence. The system also helps police officers trace the owners of found, recovered or seized firearms.
The Canadian firearms program yields significant savings for police services. How does it do that? The police are no longer burdened with the paperwork and administration involved in accepting firearms applications because these are now mailed to a central processing site. This in turn frees up significant police time and resources that can be and are directed to investigation and other important police work.
In January 2001 the national weapons enforcement support team, NWEST, was created. NWEST is a network of highly trained and experienced individuals located throughout Canada. NWEST works in a support role with local law enforcement in their criminal investigations that may involve firearms and it assists in anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling efforts. The NWEST team also helps the police community in dealing with issues of violence with firearms. Allow me to give two examples.
While responding to a call from a concerned family member, police in a major city noted that a male in the house was very despondent. Seven long guns were in plain view stored in an unlocked cabinet and were seized to protect the six residents of the home. A check of the firearms registry by these same police officers discovered that the owner also had more than 20 restricted firearms which he had failed to disclose during a police interview.
Family members, upon questioning, stated that they did not know that these handguns were scattered all over the house. Some were concealed between bed mattresses while others were hidden in the ceiling. At that particular call, police also seized 45,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 15 pounds of gun powder from that same residence.
Is that an example of how the firearms registry operates and is indeed a safety tool for police officers in their law enforcement work? I think it is.
In another case following the discovery of a machine gun in the trunk of a vehicle, police in a western Canadian city checked the firearms registry and discovered that the gun was registered to a local gun collector who had not reported the gun lost or stolen. This allowed the police to obtain a search warrant. They determined that several guns were missing from that local gun collector's collection of almost 400 firearms and the registered owner was apparently not even aware that they had gone missing. Although most of the collection was legally registered, several guns were not.
That is another example of how the firearms registry is indeed assisting police officers in doing their job of law enforcement and ensuring public safety. That is according to the police themselves.
Since its launch in January 2001, the national weapons enforcement support team, or NWEST, has provided assistance to almost 3,000 police investigations like those in the two examples I just cited. They have conducted more than 1,800 firearms traces and have provided about 500 information sessions to the policing community. On April 1 NWEST moved from the Canadian Firearms Centre to the national police services, which is administered, as I am sure all members in the House know, by the RCMP.
How does our program, the firearms registry, assist in dealing with the illegal gun market? This is what Ottawa police chief Vince Bevan, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said:
The new law brings us in line with other industrialized nations and is an important part of a coordinated international effort to fight the illicit trafficking of firearms and organized crime.
He went on to say:
Improving the regulation of legal firearms is critical to preventing their diversion to illegal markets.
I am not making this up; this is a direct quote from Vince Bevan, Ottawa's chief of police and also vice-president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. That is what the police have to say about the firearms registry. That is what they have to say about the gun control program.
The Government of Canada is committed to gun control and to the firearms program. Our preventive approach to firearms safety is not only supported by Canadians, it is also endorsed by safety experts across the country.
I know that some members on the opposite side of the House do not want to hear that. They would like to lead Canadians into believing that the very individuals and professionals who use the registry do not support the registry. But that is not the case. These groups are among the many stakeholders who continue to push for gun control in Canada and who have spoken out in support of the firearms program on numerous occasions.
For example, in a news release from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police last February, Pierre-Paul Pichette, assistant director, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, said:
Gun control is an investment in public safety and there is already promising evidence of its effectiveness.
The firearms program has already proven to be an effective tool to protect the safety of Canadians. It promotes safe and responsible firearms use while keeping firearms out of the hands of those who pose a risk to themselves or to others.
The government's approach to gun control is supported by a majority of Canadians, including those on the front lines: the police, health workers and victims advocates.
While the firearms program is still in its infancy, we can clearly see the benefits for enforcement agencies and to the Canadian public.
Allow me to add a few words on the government's commitment to improve services to the Canadian public to make this process as user friendly and efficient as possible.
As mentioned in the action plan tabled earlier this year, the government has committed to improve client service throughout the program. This includes a 30 day turnaround for registration applications which are received with accurate and complete information.
The government recognizes that there are still individuals who have yet to bring themselves in compliance with the law. Despite what program opponents would have us believe, there has never been any intention of penalizing law-abiding Canadians. Therefore, I will join my colleague the Solicitor General in encouraging people to act now.
For those who are listening, there are two options available for people to register their firearms.
The first option is online. It is free and available 24 hours a day. As part of our commitment to improve client service, online registration was reintroduced earlier this year. Online registration has been a success with over 425,000 individuals using this service. This includes over 44,000 individuals who have used the online service since it was reintroduced earlier this year.
The second option available for people to register their firearms is to order a form through the 1-800-731-4000 telephone number. The call centre is operational 16 hours each day. The centre handles an average of 4,000 calls per day.
There are still people who have not yet applied for a licence. I urge these individuals to act without delay as they cannot register their firearms without a licence. Perhaps more important, by taking the time to comply, we will have a firearms program even better able to achieve its potential in contributing to public safety.
The program will be undergoing many changes over the next several months. Legislative amendments will allow the program to evolve and make better use of existing technologies in order to better accommodate our clients.
New licence terms and a simplifying of the business licence requirements will enhance client service while maintaining the public safety principles of Canada's gun control program.
To conclude, I would like to add that the program's success stems largely from the solid partnerships that have been forged between government agencies, the law enforcement community and many stakeholders, but most important, from the ongoing support of the Canadian public. Canadians believe in public safety. Canadians see gun control as an essential requirement to achieving public safety in Canada.