OFAH disappointed with Quebec long gun ruling

OFAH FILE: 842
September 13, 2012

OFAH disappointed with Quebec long gun ruling
Quebec Superior Court Judge ignores Harper government’s move to scrap wasteful registry

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) is profoundly disappointed that the decision rendered earlier this week by Justice Marc-André Blanchard undermines federal legislation to scrap the badly flawed long gun registry and associated records. As a result, the federal government is required to hand over all records on Quebec-owned guns to the provincial government within 30 days. This permanent injunction solidifies the temporary one granted back in April, the same day the bill to end the long gun registry came into law.

“After the ineffective registry was abolished, the Harper government went a step further and closed a loophole that could have potentially left the door open for the creation of a provincial long gun registry in the future,” said OFAH Manager of Government Affairs and Policy Greg Farrant. “Justice Blanchard’s decision is an affront to parliamentary democracy and conveniently ignores a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), which found that the matter lies entirely within the jurisdiction of the federal parliament.”

The OFAH, along with colleagues in the firearms community across Canada, spent years working with the Harper government to bring Bill C-19, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and Firearms Act, to fruition. The creation of the long gun registry by a previous Liberal government was a flawed paper trail that tracked trained, legal, licensed firearms owners. It never addressed the real problem, failed miserably as a tool to prevent random violent crime, did nothing to enhance public safety and ignored the fact that criminals don’t register guns.

“The vote in the House of Commons made the will of Parliament very clear but Justice Blanchard ignored the intentions of this democratically elected legislative body. Instead of interpreting the law he has chosen to make the law and we have every expectation that the federal government will appeal the decision,” said Farrant.

With over 100,000 members, subscribers and supporters, and 675 member clubs, the OFAH is the largest nonprofit fish and wildlife conservation-based organization in Ontario. For more information, visit www.ofah.org and stay connected with Facebook and Twitter.

-30-

Contacts: