Canada tables bill to scrap long-gun registry

(updated at 4:15 p.m., Oct. 26)

TOBI COHEN
Postmedia News

OTTAWA — The federal government has introduced legislation to scrap the controversial long-gun registry.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews tabled a bill dubbed “An Act to amend the Criminal Code and Firearms Act” Tuesday in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives tried to pass a similar bill during the previous Parliament but it failed due to the party’s minority status.

The Tories now have a majority in both the House and Senate and the bill is likely to pass, albeit amid heated debate as the registry has long divided Canadians along rural-urban lines.

Leona Aglukkaq, the MP for Nunavut and regional minister for the North, said she was “pleased that our government has re-introduced legislation to scrap the wasteful long-gun registry.”

“Hunting is a part of everyday life in the North and I have been clear with my constituents that I opposed this registry, which does not respect our way of life,” Aglukkaq said in an Oct. 25 statement. “I am proud to be part of a government that continues to stand up for Inuit and all Northerners.”

Speaking in the Nunavut legislature on Oct. 26, health minister Tagak Curley said he was happy to see that long-gun registry going to be scrapped.

“This was a barrier to the people who abided by the law and kept their guns under lock and key. Those are full-time hunters and harvesters who help their communities as a whole,” Curley said. “But we must continue to be diligent and safe.”

While some think it’s an expensive burden for otherwise law-abiding gun owners, others feel the registry is an important tool for police to keep track of firearms.

The registry has also caused tension in NDP and Liberal ranks as members struggled to reconcile the wishes of rural constituents with the their overall wish to maintain the registry.

On Monday, Toews indicated that provinces that wish to implement their own registries will receive no help from the federal government.

“Provincial governments are free to proceed as they wish but we will not assist in setting up another registry,” he said during question period. “Records held by the Canadian firearms program will not be shared with the provinces.”

Toews made the comments in response to a question from Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia who suggested some provinces, like Quebec, were prepared to assume the responsibility themselves.

with files from Nunatsiaq News