Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, I will not take credit for the increase, in any respect. I think it's a function of a couple of things. First of all, in 2003, the deadline for registration had just arrived and the amount of information in the system was really still in its infancy. Secondly, I'm awar

Public Safety committee  The Firearms Act is a regulatory act, so our duty is to encourage people, through whatever means we have available, to obtain licences and register their firearms. And there are sanctions, of course, but we are not an enforcement agency. So we do not have the means--

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, with your permission, I've asked my colleague Beverley Holloway, the chief operating officer, if she wouldn't mind responding. She can give a far clearer response than I can, with your permission.

Public Safety committee  Perhaps, Mr. Chair, I could start with that—and I believe the Auditor General may have something to say. Up until a couple of years ago, we had been reporting the number of licence holders against an estimate undertaken by government, I believe, in 2000 or 2001 that some 2.2 mil

Public Safety committee  We have had established for some time now a standard process of registration and license application. Those are the two main products delivered by the Canada Firearms Centre. The standard was defined as a properly completed application for either a registration or a license. What

Public Safety committee  I'm no longer the commissioner, so I can't commit. But based on the response of the report, I can say there is an undertaking to refine the standard. I can tell you that when I left, work was under way.

Public Safety committee  I believe that's true for some of the forces. But I should point out—and I've had occasion to speak to a number of police chiefs—that for that to happen, it would be a conscious decision on the part of the police force to bring the information up automatically as part of their st

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, first of all, I apologize; I haven't had personal exposure to the old firearms acquisition certificate regime. I can point out a couple of key differences, of course. One is that the real change occurred with the Firearms Act of 1995 coming into effect, which require

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, certainly for the year of 2003-04 when I was responsible, there was no political direction received with respect to the resolution.

Public Safety committee  It's a small percentage. Since October 2004, we undertook to verify all firearms that were being transferred or initially registered. In that period of time, I believe roughly 200,000 firearms were verified .

Public Safety committee  We have roughly 7.1 million firearms in the database.

Public Safety committee  It would be, in that period of time. Mr. Chair, I should point out that what I'm referring to was a decision that I believe was made in October 2004 to attempt to verify all firearms on transfer or registration. There would have been a number of firearms verified in the past. As

Public Safety committee  Not at all, Mr. Chair. I had, as commissioner of firearms, responsibility to put to Parliament, and through the minister, the most accurate financial records possible. In fact, if you look at departmental performance reports, for instance, there's an attestation that I sign and

Public Safety committee  There's still work to do; there's no question. As a public servant with 27 years experience, I can say there's work to do in every government organization. For instance, in the area of reporting to Parliament, one of our principal preoccupations was to make sure the core data a

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, there are two questions raised there. It wasn't solely within the Firearms Centre, because when issues like this arise, it's common practice, particularly frankly with the Firearms Centre concerning which attention to our expenditures is subject to such scrutiny we w