Long-gun battle cost RCMP $1.1M
Legal fees for gun registry fight
It cost the federal government as much to defend in court its decision to destroy the longgun registry as it did to kill it and the RCMP is not pleased to have had to pick up the tab, documents suggest.
The RCMP was billed $1.1 million for litigation costs last year to fight provincial efforts to halt the destruction of the long-gun registry.
The government had already erased the data for the rest of the country at a cost of just under $1 million, according to a previous report.
In a letter to the deputy minister of public safety, Commissioner Bob Paulson indicated that the RCMP had “identified” funds to cover the litigation costs this year but he made no promises for the future.
“While we are able to be of assistance this fiscal year, I do not expect that we will enjoy such flexibility in years to come given the escalating impacts of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan and other significant internal budget pressures,” he wrote in what appeared to be a more diplomatic final version of the letter.
“It is recommended that for the fiscal year 2013-2014 and beyond, Public Safety Canada identify an alternative source for funding for Bill C-19 litigation costs.”
His latter comment came in a sharper draft of the letter. Both documents were obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin through access to information legislation.
The Ending the Long-gun Registry Act became law in April 2012 despite opposition from police, gun control advocates and several provinces, including Quebec, which recently got the green light to challenge the government’s plan to destroy the records before the Supreme Court.
The province wants to preserve federal data on longguns registered in Quebec in a bid to create its own registry. Quebec was instrumental in the creation of the federal registry, ushered in by Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government in response to the Dec. 6, 1989, massacre at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal where 14 women were gunned down by Marc Lépine.
Now Dec. 6 is a national day of remembrance and action to end violence against women. Canadians will mark the 24th anniversary of the massacre on Friday.