Public Safety committee  Well, figures on firearms used in crime fluctuate across this nation. If you track them over the years, they've fluctuated up...we've been higher, we've been lower, and now they seem to be reaching a stabilized point. When we look at firearms crime in other nations, we see that there has been a downturn in violent crime within the U.S.

Public Safety committee  I received none whatsoever.

Public Safety committee  I do.

Public Safety committee  I stand by what I have in my presentation.

Public Safety committee  I've had the ability to stand up and voice an opinion without being hampered or ordered not to, so in that respect I take the liberty of saying that I do represent these people ipso facto.

Public Safety committee  I would not agree that they're elected democratically, because the average front-line police officer has no input whatsoever into who is the president or who is on the board of directors of the Canadian Police Association.

Public Safety committee  There's an electoral process in--

Public Safety committee  I'm quite familiar with that process.

Public Safety committee  No.

Public Safety committee  The registration of handguns and prohibited firearms, when it was under the regime of national weapons—I can't remember what it was called—was conducted by the national restricted weapons registry system. Everything was verified there. A person would go out and buy a firearm and would then return to the police station with a permit that allowed the transport of the firearm to the police station.

Public Safety committee  It was before you were allowed to take the handgun home.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry, I don't have that. I know that our local association was polled. Everybody was polled. In the Saskatoon Police Service, the number fluctuates, but there are usually around 440 officers. Of course, it's certainly not the size of Chief Blair's association.

Public Safety committee  I'm sorry. I can try.

Public Safety committee  I don't rely on the Canadian firearms registry to protect my life at all, let alone 37 seconds. I don't rely on the information contained there. As I said earlier, I will not swear out a search warrant based on any of the information contained in the registry, because in order to swear out a search warrant I have to swear on a Bible that I verily believe the information contained in my information to obtain a warrant is accurate and true to the best of my knowledge.

Public Safety committee  That's a very simple question to ask and answer. I would put the money towards the scarce resources, towards more police officers on the street. We know, because of specific targeting we've done in the last number of months in Saskatoon in relation to a crime wave that has come through the city, that by putting more officers on the street we're able to see a reduction in that crime.