Lost her last election, in 2006, with 39% of the vote.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police March 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is undoubtedly aware, the commissioner is responsible for the management of the RCMP. As I understand it, there are procedures that permit RCMP officers to participate in special events. They have to be approved under those procedures.
I would suggest that if the hon. member has any questions or concerns, he take them up with the commanding officer in question.
Border Crossings March 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, let me reassure the hon. member that we are working very constructively and very closely with other levels of government. We are working with the City of Windsor, the surrounding municipalities and the provincial government.
In fact, I am pleased to inform the member, in case he has forgotten, that just two weeks ago we had a very positive announcement around some short term measures that will improve both the safety and flow of traffic between Windsor and Detroit.
Instead of perhaps criticizing the hard work being done by members on this side of the House and other orders of government, the hon. member might like to work with us.
Question No. 16 March 22nd, 2004
The Canadian firearms program is one of the key contributors to the government's goal of enhancing public safety and security for Canadians.
On February 21, 2003, the Minister of Justice, together with the Solicitor General of Canada, announced an action plan to improve management, enhance service delivery, and increase transparency and accountability. The program's action plan is being implemented successfully by the firearms centre. There have been important improvements in program efficiency and management over the past year. We are building on these improvements.
The government remains committed to delivering this important public safety program in the most cost effective manner possible.
Question No. 15 March 22nd, 2004
The Canadian firearms program is an important element of the federal government's overall public safety efforts. The deadline for the licensing of individuals passed on December 31, 2000, and the deadline for the registration of firearms passed on December 31, 2002. The program is now beginning to enter the full implementation ongoing operations phase. Nonetheless, since 1998 more than 12,000 firearms licences have been refused or revoked in view of public safety concerns and to respond to the potential for violence or injury.
The government is committed to delivering the firearms program so that it can continue to meet its important public safety objectives in the most cost effective manner.
Question No. 14 March 22nd, 2004
The national firearms tracing program was initiated in 1974, in cooperation with the U.S. alcohol, tobacco and firearms, ATF, tracing center. The primary goal of the program is to contribute to keeping Canadians safe and secure by providing necessary information to law enforcement authorities on firearms seized in the course of criminal investigations. Assistance is also provided to and by the U.S. ATF tracing center.
In implementing the program, the national firearms tracing unit was established. The unit currently consists of three RCMP regular members and remains an integral part of Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, CISC.
The national firearms tracing unit assists investigators in identifying owners of firearms and provides further information to police agencies regarding unregistered firearms such as: point of origin, name of retailer, name of purchaser.
In regard to a) in 2003, the national firearms tracing unit received 8,726 firearms tracing requests: 7,001 from Canadian law enforcement agencies; 1,471 from the U.S.; and 254 from international agencies. In 2004, up to February 13, the national firearms tracing unit received 1,717 tracing requests: 1,600 from Canadian law enforcement agencies; 99 from the U.S., and 18 from international agencies.
In regard to b) according to the national firearms tracing unit, there were 4,908 successful firearms traces made from January1, 2003 to December 31, 2003. Successful is defined as law enforcement authorities being provided with information on the firearm’s history to assist in their investigations. Firearms without serial number, caliber or make cannot be traced.
In regard to c), d) and e) the national firearms tracing unit provides an operational service to law enforcement authorities, domestic and international. Follow-up information as to the use of a firearm trace result is not required by the unit; therefore CISC has no statistics for these questions. There is no agency in Canada, not even Statistics Canada, that can provide this type of information. The information would need to be collected by reviewing all files from all law enforcement agencies in the country who request a trace, which would be extremely labour intensive.
Question No. 7 March 22nd, 2004
With almost 2 million Canadians licensed to own firearms and almost 7 million firearms registered, the bulk of the initial program set-up has been accomplished. As reported in the Department of Justice's 2002-03 performance report, total federal government program costs to March 31, 2003, were $814 million. Approved Canada Firearms Centre funding for the current fiscal year which will end March 31, 2004, is $116 million. Costs of other government departments will be accumulated and reported as part of the CAFC's 2003-04 performance report.
The Government is committed to delivering the firearms program so that it can continue to meet its important public safety objectives in the most cost-effective manner.
Sponsorship Program March 11th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, in fact the Prime Minister and this government have been very clear. We have put in place a comprehensive response to the Auditor General's report. We want to get to the bottom of this. We are taking responsibility. That is what we did. We took responsibility when we put a public inquiry in place, when we convened the public accounts committee early, when we in fact indicated there would be whistleblower legislation, when we in fact acted in relation to certain of those in relation to crown corporations. We in fact have taken responsibility. We have acted responsibly. We will continue to do so.
Sponsorship Program March 11th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member may be aware, Mr. Dingwall, the former minister of public works, has indicated that he will be happy to appear before the public accounts committee and answer any questions it may have.
It is my understanding that next week the public accounts committee will be calling a number of former ministers of public works and, it is my understanding, Mr. Dingwall is one of those former ministers.
Sponsorship Program March 11th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I do have in my possession a memo, not from Karl Littler but to Karl Littler from a finance department official. In fact, this memo deals with nothing more than the ordinary annual advertising in relation to Canada savings bonds.
I would think that it is hard to make the kinds of assertions or allegations that the hon. member is in relation to a matter that we know is an important annual advertising campaign to encourage Canadians to buy Canada savings bonds.
Sponsorship Program March 11th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, again, as I have said on numerous other occasions, no one is more committed to getting to the bottom of this than this government. That is why we have a public inquiry headed up by Mr. Justice Gomery. I would hope that the hon. member is not attacking the reputation or integrity of Mr. Justice Gomery.
As I have indicated, if anyone understands the process of public inquiries in this country, there is considerable preliminary work that needs to be undertaken, including the appointment of counsel, co-counsel, the finding of office location--