Firearms panel ‘lacks diversity’
Enthusiasts replaced with police officials
The Harper government’s recent decision to dump three civilian gun enthusiasts from its firearms advisory committee and replace them with law enforcement officials didn’t go far enough to diversify the voices on the panel, suggests an internal memo.
In March, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced that the new appointees — drawn from police organizations in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba — would “provide important suggestions and input” to firearms legislation.
But weeks before that announcement, Public Safety Canada staff sent Toews a memo suggesting that “while the changes to membership … will provide a greater voice for law enforcement on the committee, the changes will still not reflect the full spectrum of the firearms control debate.”
The Feb. 12 memo, signed by Francois Guimont, the deputy minister of public safety, was obtained under access-toinformation laws.
Toews’ spokeswoman, Julie Carmichael, said in an email Wednesday that the new appointees “further strengthened the membership of (the committee) to ensure the advice that is given is representative of all sides of the debate.”
“As a government, we believe in an effective firearms program, appropriate laws and effective law enforcement, all of which are essential to protecting public safety and combating the criminal use of firearms,” she added.
Toews’ decision to shuffle the committee’s membership was spurred by remarks made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in December on the anniversary of the mass shooting at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.
Asked by the opposition about documents showing that the firearms advisory committee — heavily weighted with sports shooting enthusiasts — was advocating for the reclassification of certain prohibited weapons, Harper told the House that he had “absolutely no intention” of accommodating those recommendations and agreed that the committee’s membership needed some “re-examination.”
Those cut from the committee were co-chair Linda Baggaley, a Red Deer gun auctioneer and vice-president of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association; Gerry Gamble, president of the Sporting Clubs of Niagara and a director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association; and Kerry Higgins, a gunsmith from Saskatchewan.
They were replaced by Rick Hanson, chief of the Calgary Police Service; Bob Rich, chief of the Abbotsford Police Department; and Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association.