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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/04/15/66299-cp.html
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/04/15/66299-cp.html
Manitoba tells Crown not to prosecute firearm registration offences
WINNIPEG (CP) - Manitoba will not prosecute people charged with firearm registration offences, the province announced Tuesday.
"We have been opposed to the federal government's registry scheme right from the beginning," Attorney General Gord Mackintosh said in a news release. "There is no benefit to the public in making criminals out of hunters and farmers, and it is a waste of time and resources to have provincial Crown attorneys prosecuting registration offences." Alberta and Saskatchewan have also said they won't prosecute charges under the federal law.
Mackintosh said when police lay charges under the Criminal Code, they will request that the federal government prosecute those charges. If Ottawa declines, Manitoba will stay the charges on the basis that prosecution by the province is contrary to the public interest.
As well, Manitoba conservation officers will not enforce or administer long gun registration laws. Officers checking firearm users in the field will not be inspecting camps to check for compliance, said Conservation Minister Steve Ashton.
Originally tagged at $2 million, the registry's costs could surpass $1 billion by 2005, the federal auditor general said in December.
The Canadian Alliance has suggested enforcing the Firearms Act could easily cost another $1 billion.
The law requiring each gun to be registered came into effect on Jan. 1. Opponents who see it as unconstitutional want to see the law tested by the courts.
Gun defenders have attempted to disrupt the registration system by overloading it with e-mails or faxed application forms.
David Austin of the Canadian Firearms Centre has said about three-quarters of all guns have been registered, or about 5.8 million of almost eight million firearms.
Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have all criticized the registration program. The premiers of the Yukon and Northwest Territories have also called on the federal government to suspend its gun control program.
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