Posted: Thursday, 27 October 2011

The Canadian Labour Congress is urging Members of Parliament to oppose Bill C-19, which would abolish the Canadian long gun registry and destroy all the data it has collected since its creation.

For Canada’s labour movement, the gun registry is an important tool for workplace safety. Police have estimated that they use the registry over 17,000 times a day, and say the registry helps them prevent, investigate and solve crimes. Social workers, paramedics, firefighters and other first responders use the information in the database to help them keep safe on the job. They need to know when there is a gun in the home or whether there is a risk of gun violence before they enter a situation, so they can quickly devise a plan to ensure the safety of workers, clients and patients.

We know the registry has helped save lives. Statistics Canada reports that rates of homicide involving rifles or shotguns in 2010 were about one-fifth of those seen 30 years ago. Workers in shelters and child welfare agencies believe that the long-gun registry helps keep vulnerable women and children safer. Since its enactment, the rate of women murdered with firearms by their intimate partner has decreased by 69 per cent. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians has pointed out that the firearm-related suicides have decreased by 43 per cent since the introduction of stricter gun laws in 1991 and by 23 per cent since the introduction of the Firearms Act in 1995.

The Canadian Labour Congress is appalled that the government is proceeding with the destruction of this useful tool despite the fact that law enforcement, emergency physicians, front-line workers, anti-violence groups, women’s shelters and victims’ organizations have provided information about the registry’s effectiveness. Public service workers at the registry’s office in Miramichi, New Brunswick were instrumental in debunking many myths and misinformation about the gun registry during last year’s unsuccessful attempt to eliminate it. Yet the government chooses to ignore the evidence.

The CLC is concerned that the government is fast-tracking the passage of this bill in order to avoid a full discussion of its implications on the safety of workplaces and communities. The additional directive to destroy the gun registry’s data would prevent provinces and territories from picking up the program, despite the fact that some have indicated an interest in doing so.

The Canadian Labour Congress supports the long gun registry as an effective tool for workplace and community safety. Eliminating it will put workers and Canadians at risk. We urge Members of Parliament to slow down this process, listen to the evidence and consider the impact of this legislation, and then to oppose Bill C-19.