Good Evening.
I congratulate the organizers of this very successful evening. I am delighted to be here tonight to stand for my colleague, the Honourable John Nilson, Minister of Justice [Saskatchewan].
From a resource management perspective, we have many grave concerns with Bill C-68. There is not enough time this evening for me to elaborate on these concerns at any great length.
Mr. Nilson, my colleagues, and I, have said it on many occasions, but it loses nothing in the repeating ... the Government of Saskatchewan is solidly behind the residents of the province who oppose Bill C-68.
Tonight I will focus mainly on providing you with the most recent information on developments in gun control.
I also want to assure you that your provincial government is more committed than ever to fight Bill C-68 on your behalf.
Saskatchewan has consistently and continuously told the federal government that it does not support the universal licensing and registration provisions contained in Bill C-68.
Every once in a while, you just have to take a step back and ask yourself why the federal government is so determined to forge ahead with this obviously flawed legislation.
I will revisit this question again toward the end of my comments.
But first I would like to talk about why your provincial government has made the strongest possible representations against this Bill.
Saskatchewan has always supported responsible and cost effective measures that will reduce the criminal use of firearms and has implemented community education programs for all of these areas.
We have approximately 156,000 students who have completed the Saskatchewan Firearm Safety and Hunter Education Course. Since 1981, all new licenced hunters must complete this course.
Over 1,300 volunteer instructors deliver this program in cooperation with SERM in over 300 communities in the province.
We are also concerned about problems such as domestic violence and suicide prevention. And we support and promote safe gun storage requirements and encourage training on firearms usage.
There is no reason to believe this ill-conceived piece of legislation will resolve any of the concerns it was supposedly designed to address, yet the federal government is plowing ahead.
Instead, as we see this legislation now, it will only serve to punish responsible gun owners and this is simply unacceptable.
The position of your provincial government against Bill C-68 has not altered since the legislation was first introduced.
Saskatchewan has repeatedly made strong representations to Mr. Rock and the federal government in an effort to modify the more offensive portions of Bill C-68.
Despite all of these objections, the Bill received Royal Assent in December of 1995 and was proclaimed without any consideration of the amendments suggested by Saskatchewan and other jurisdictions.
Even after the Act became law, Saskatchewan has continued to tell Justice Minister Rock -- "Let's look at ways which will have a direct impact on the criminal use of firearms." Yet again our appeals fell on deaf ears.
Justice Minister Nilson and his officials have reviewed the first set of Regulations and found many, many problems with the federal program.
Exactly how these problems are being addressed by the federal Implementation Committee, we don't know. Due to the federal government's refusal to make any allowances to Saskatchewan's legitimate concerns regarding this Bill, Saskatchewan's officials are no longer participating in implementation discussions.
In fact, Saskatchewan, along with several other jurisdictions, sees so many problems that it has opted out of the administration of the program altogether.
In November, Mr. Rock admitted the costs of administering the program are going to be much higher than expected ... no surprise to us.
Then Mr. Rock tried to blame the additional administration cost on the province opting out of administering the new program. Somehow this program which was supposed to be revenue-neutral will cost more if the federal government has to administer it.
It appears to me to be more of the same off-loading of expenses by the federal government onto the provinces that we've seen in health, education and social programs.
Every effort has been made to reason with Mr. Rock, but he has not listened. He has decided to deal with us in the courts instead.
Saskatchewan has taken the first steps in participating in a constitutional challenge to Bill C-68.
In December, the Alberta Court of Appeal gave the Province of Saskatchewan permission to intervene in Alberta's constitutional challenge, along with a long list of others.
Those intervening in support of the challenge include:
Those intervening against the challenge include:
When the lawsuit starts later this year, Saskatchewan will tell the court why the licensing and registration provisions infringe on the Province's authority over property and civil rights.
Saskatchewan remains committed to opting out of the administration of the gun control program. However, unless our constitutional challenge succees, the Firearms Act will continue to apply in Saskatchewan.
At this point, it is not clear whether the RCMP or some new federal agency will administer the program in Saskatchewan.
What we have tried to tell Mr. Rock is that no matter how or who administers the firearms program, the law is unfair, ineffective and unworkable. He has not listened and will now have to try to make it work on his own.
In late November, Justice Minister Rock pointed the finger of guilt at the provinces opting out of administering the program, saying they were abdicating their responsibilities.
The reverse is true. If we did not take action on behalf of the people of Saskatchewan who have expressed concerns about the Bill, we would be avoiding our responsibilities.
The way we see it, Mr. Rock has abdicated his responsibility by not listening to and accommodating his provincial colleagues.
Consultation means listening and giving consideration to the legitimate concerns of all those who may be adversely affected.
From the beginning, Mr. Rock has never heard or accommodated Saskatchewan's concerns with the legislation in the slightest way.
Toward the beginning of my comments tonight, I asked the question why. Why would the federal government proceed with this legislation in the face of overwhelming and compelling arguments against it?
Obviously, Mr. Rock is not listening to the real concerns of Saskatchewan people and others across the country, but no one can accuse him of not being able to read.
He obviously reads the polls very well which tell that there are a lot of people in Canada's large urban centres who are worried about crimes being committed with guns ... and these people vote.
Whether the legislation does what it is intended to do seems of secondary importance as long as there is the perception of trying.
Well, we are concerned about the criminal use of firearms. We will continue to provide the Saskatchewan Firearm Safety Course to Saskatchewan residents. It remains to be seen how Ottawa intends to ensure their federally required Firearm Safety Course continues to be available in Saskatchewan.
The difference is that we believe that whatever methods are undertaken must be cost-effective and up to the task.
These methods must also recognize the important role of responsible firearms owners to our rural economy, wildlife management, and way of life.
I can understand the concerns of people living in large urban centres in other parts of the country. Rural Saskatchewan residents share these concerns, but they have other concerns as well.
This legislation has often been called Draconian. To this, I would add the word 'undemocratic'.
Hopefully in the end, fair minded urban dwellers will join the opposition to Bill C-68 once they understand the problems it will cause rural residents.
Unfortunately, Mr. Rock seems intent on exploiting this lack of understanding for political gain.
Your provincial government has been acting and will continue to act on behalf of all of you.
The approach of the federal government has been our way, or no way. Our response to this heavy-handed approach has had to be -- No Way!
Thank you.