Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity today to come back to the important matter of controlling the movement and ownership of firearms. Such gun control is necessary.
The government decided to destroy the registry, a tool that helps save lives, a tool with a proven track record. Despite six unanimous motions at the National Assembly calling on the government to give up its ideological crusade against this registry that was heavily used by police forces, the government dug in its heels.
Quebeckers know that the registry saves lives. Community organizations that often see how useful and effective this tool is also ask that access to this type of registry be maintained. When the members of Quebec's National Assembly saw how inflexible the federal government was about this, they unanimously asked that Quebec's portion of the data contained in the now dismantled registry be transferred to the province.
In light of the government's determination and rush to destroy not only the registry, but all the data it contained, including information on firearms owners in Quebec, the Government of Quebec had no choice but to appeal to the courts to assert its rights. Quebec wants to keep data from the registry about Quebec. The request is clear, simple and legitimate.
On September 12, 2012, the Government of Quebec obtained an injunction preventing the Quebec data in the gun registry from being destroyed. Here is an excerpt from that ruling:
Although the firearms registry was established pursuant to the federal government’s criminal law power, it created a partnership with Quebec, particularly with regard to the Registry’s data. The principles of constitutional interpretation do not allow a level of government, in the very specific and unique context of this case, to enact a legislative provision whose main purpose is to prevent other levels of government from using the fruits of this partnership in the exercise of their legislative powers.
The legal battle continues. Instead of acquiescing to Quebec's request and transferring the data, the federal government is digging in its heels and continuing to demonstrate a lack of openness, respect and understanding in the face of this request that is so important to Quebeckers. It is even appealing the injunction, at a significant cost to taxpayers.
Quebec's public safety minister, Stéphane Bergeron, decided to move forward and stop waiting. In February, he introduced bill 20, which aims to create a Quebec gun registry. This bill will prevent a legal vacuum and will allow for data that were previously contained in the federal registry to be properly moved to the Quebec registry.
Will the government listen to Quebec's request and agree to hand the data over to Quebec?