Jack Ramsay

[Gun Control, May 11th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, have officials from the Minister of Justice's office called the James Bay Cree or the Council for Yukon Indians on this gun control thing? Has the minister attempted to respond to their letters? The Cree say no. The Yukon Indians say no.

Have justice officials been speaking with their counterparts in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Yukon? Has the minister attempted to resolve the impasse between those provinces and the federal government? The attorneys general say no.

Has the Minister of Justice met with Canadians from all across the country in public, open meetings? Has the minister attempted to address the thousands of Canadians who have reservations about this legislation? The people of Dauphin, Manitoba say absolutely not.

During the Manitoba election just held the voters of Manitoba said no to both the Liberals and the justice minister's legislation.

The final no ought to be said on this issue here in the House.

[Gun Control, May 10th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we have a good idea of what happened in Manitoba where the Liberals lost 50 per cent of their seats.

Aboriginal representatives from Yukon as well as the James Bay Cree claim a constitutional right to be consulted in the prescribed manner before the enactment of Bill C-68. Both groups claim consultation in the prescribed manner never took place. The James Bay Cree indicate their letters to the justice minister regarding the matter were never even answered.

How does the minister explain the violation of the constitutional rights of these aboriginal peoples?

[Gun Control, May 10th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, on December 7, 1994, in answer to a question regarding the extent to which the justice minister had consulted with the provincial attorneys general on Bill C-68, the justice minister stated in the House:

Consultation was engaged continuously with officials in the offices of every provincial and territorial attorneys general, every one of them.

The attorneys general of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Yukon have flatly denied there was any serious consultation, let alone continuous consultation.

Will the justice minister explain the enormous contradiction between his statement to the House and the declarations of these attorneys general?

[Gun Control, May 9th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, weekend newspaper reports indicate that the Minister of Justice is considering curbing the enormous powers given to police officers under Bill C-68 to search homes and places.

Are these reports accurate? If so, what prompted the change of heart? Popular opinion or the threat of a court challenge?

[Gun Control, May 9th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

In light of the analysis done by the Library of Parliament, which indicates that part of the gun legislation might be challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, is the justice minister as confident as his parliamentary secretary was yesterday in the House that all aspects of Bill C-68 are in fact constitutional?

[Gun Control, May 8th, 1995]

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for that answer.

Questions remain unanswered regarding whether sections of Bill C-68 may be contrary to the charter of rights and freedoms. The constitutionality of Bill C-68 is in question, and courts in Alberta and B.C. have declared the orders in council under Bill C-17, which have been used again by the Minister of Justice, to be invalid.

Would it not be prudent for the government to resolve these matters before proceeding to ram Bill C-68 through before the summer recess?

[Gun Control, May 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, can the Deputy Prime Minister confidently stand in the House today and state publicly for the record and for the benefit of the provinces, which will be burdened with the administrative nightmare of Bill C-68, that the Liberals' gun legislation is constitutional in all its aspects?

[Gun Control, May 3rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, immediately following the disaster of the Oklahoma bombing, the U.S. attorney general pledged she would seek the death penalty for those responsible. This demonstrates that country's intolerance for violent crime, something that is greatly lacking in our own country. Here a bleeding heart mentality has reigned for years.

In Canada last week, one of our police chiefs was shot to death. Did the Minister of Justice display the same outrage as his American counterpart to this senseless act of violence? Did the minister express the growing outrage of Canadians, including our police officers, who have repeatedly called for a return of capital punishment in this country? No.

Our justice minister's only response to this latest act of violence is to offer Canadians costly and useless gun registration. That is what this minister calls getting behind our police forces.

Criminals will not be deterred by the registration of firearms. They will not be stopped until we have a justice minister with sufficient backbone to take a strong stand against this senseless kind of violence.

[Firearms, April 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, surely the Minister of Justice is not so naive as to believe that the registration of firearms will stop terrorist attacks the magnitude of Oklahoma City or the illegal importation of prohibited firearms.

I ask the justice minister why his government does not use the millions of dollars planned for the gun registry and reinstate the RCMP counterterrorist unit which was abolished three years ago if he has any information that firearms or weapons of any kind are being stockpiled in our country?

[Firearms, April 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice is attempting to link the horrific situation in Oklahoma City with the firearms situation in Canada in a pathetic attempt to gain support for Bill C-68. I am appalled that the Minister of Justice would try to capitalize on such a heinous crime in order to drum up emotional support for his gun regulations.

In interviews yesterday, the minister defended the proposed firearms registry by saying that registration will provide information to police about whether someone is stockpiling firearms. Will the minister explain to the House how the firearms stockpiling in Oka occurred, how these prohibited firearms were acquired and how registration would have prevented this?