statism watch

That’s what the economy needs to give it a shot in the arm. Spending like the proverbial drunken sailor on more jails, massive globalist summits, new police hardware and new squadrons of high-tech fighter jets. What kind of new economy is it we’re building, exactly? A Globe and Mail editorial reads:

“If the government didn’t know what the new law would cost, its managerial incompetence is inexcusable. If, as is more likely, it knew but didn’t say, its stealth is unjustifiable. Why would Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has been promoting government-wide restraint in the name of deficit control, allow jail budgets to go wild? Why would the government not tell the truth about the Truth in Sentencing Act?”

Related: Canada’s inhumane prison plan | The prison spending boom | Planned random DUI checkpoints a violation of rights | An American Detention Bill You Ought to Read More Carefully | You Commit Three Felonies a Day | Tory plans for U.S.-style prisons slammed in report | US Supreme Court rules police can initiate suspect’s questioning if right to counsel waived | Tories propose law allowing fingerprinting before charges are laid | Serious offences declined before Tories: study | Entrapment becoming standard procedure for police | Ontario to place prosecutors in police stations | ‘Mens rea’ intention test questioned prior to Toronto 18 terror verdict | Federal parolees to wear tracking anklets in pilot project | Tory ‘Guilty before proven innocent’ law to make debut in court | U.K. Develops Plan to Begin Microchipping Prisoners | CBC Radio Broadcasts Expose of North American Police State | Prisoners ‘to be chipped like dogs’ | You Are a Suspect

Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
June 22, 2010

OTTAWA – A new prison-sentencing law will cost the federal government an extra $5-billion over five years and the provincial governments even more, Canada’s spending watchdog estimated Tuesday in a report that predicts 13 new prisons will be needed to incarcerate 4,000 new offenders.

Kevin Page cautioned that his cost analysis is not an exact science, but rather a “high-level estimation” because he says he was stonewalled by the government in his efforts to secure the needed data.

“I knew incarceration was expensive, but when we actually did the calculation . . . you get big numbers in a hurry,” said Mr. Page, the parliamentary budget officer.

“It is a lot of money in a period of time when we’re generating deficits.”

Mr. Page, at the request of the Opposition Liberals, analyzed the cost of one piece of crime-and-punishment legislation, which came into force in February.

The new Truth in Sentencing Act ends a practice of judges handing offenders time credits, on a two-for-one basis, to compensate for time spent in pre-sentence remand.

The analysis estimates additional federal costs of $1-billion annually over five years, with two-thirds going toward extra operating and maintenance costs to house new prisoners and the remaining one-third being used for 13 new penitentiaries that would be needed to handle the prisoner influx.

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Because the Harper Conservatives are obviously moderate centrists.

Related: Experts Draft Document Critical Of ACTA: Signatures Wanted | Pro-copyright bill group busted as recording industry astroturf campaign | Tories unveil tougher copyright bill, requires ISPs to keep user info | Copyright Act changes to be revealed today | India Gearing Up To Fight ACTA; Seeking Other, Like-Minded, Countries | Google attorney slams ACTA copyright treaty | Red Alert: New Canadian DMCA Bill Within Six Weeks | Official ACTA Draft Released, Only Very Slightly Less Awful Than Expected | The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots | Big Content’s dystopian wish-list for the US gov’t: spyware, censorship, physical searches and SWAT teams | Thousands condemn secrecy of New Zealand round of internet copyright talks | ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws | Entire Text of ACTA Treaty Leaks to Online Rights Website | Revealed: ACTA to cover seven categories of intellectual property | New ACTA Leaks Complete Picture of Oppressive Global Copyright Treaty | EU Parliament votes down ACTA global copyright resolution by overwhelming margin | ACTA Internet Chapter Leaks: Renegotiates WIPO, Sets 3 Strikes as Model | ACTA Is Called An ‘Executive Agreement’ To Implement Restrictive Copyright With Less Hassle Than A Treaty | ACTA One Step Closer To Being Done; Concerns About Transparency Ignored | UK MPs frozen out of super-secret ACTA copyright talks | Reading Between The Still Secret Lines Of The ACTA Negotiations | Beyond ACTA: Proposed EU — Canada Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Chapter Leaks | New Leaks of Secret ACTA Copyright Law Reveal Oppressive ‘Global DMCA’ | MPAA Says Critics of Secret Copyright Treaty Hate Hollywood | ACTA Threatens Made-in-Canada Copyright Policy | More ACTA Details Leak: It’s An Entertainment Industry Wishlist | Six Days Left: Canadian Net Users Caught As Copyright Consultation Nears Conclusion | MP Charlie Angus on copyright: industry lobby pulling for ‘dead business model’ | Ottawa denies altering public’s ECopyright Consultation submissions | Security guards stop MPs, students from distributing fair use flyers at Toronto copyright townhall | Can The Public Be Heard On Copyright Issues? | Copyright Consultation Launches: Time For Canadians To Speak Out | Third stab at copyright law ‘reform’ to kick off with consultations | Time to slay Canadian file-sharing myths | Canadian copyright lobbyists leaned on “independent” researchers to change report on file-sharing | Think tank plagiarizes, pulls report on Canadian piracy | Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets | Latest Round of Closed-Door ACTA Copyright Negotiations Wrap Up | Digital rights groups sue for access to secret ACTA treaty | Critics waging a cyber offensive to fight copyright changes | Canadian Industry Minister lies about Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up | The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print | Government ready to drop copyright bomb | Transparency needed on ACTA | Revamped copyright law targets electronic devices | New Attempt to Align Canada’s Copyright Act with USA Coming Soon | Canadian DMCA To Be Introduced Tomorrow Morning?

Michael Geist, MichaelGeist.ca
June 22, 2010

There was considerable attention yesterday on a media report stating that Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore warned against “radical extremists” opposing C-32. A video of part of his remarks has now been posted online [full video here]. The comments, which come after the prepared speech, feature a no-holds-barred attack against those arguing for fair copyright. According to Moore, some proposed amendments to C-32 are not genuine but rather part of an attempt to oppose copyright and copyright reform, to drum up fear, and to mislead. Moore encourages confrontation, urging the audience to confront on Facebook, Twitter, talk shows and in the media until “they are defeated.”

I’m under no illusion here. Yesterday, I asked in a post who Moore’s “radical extremists” are. The video suggests that he thinks it is me and the thousands of other Canadians who have argued for fair copyright (a reporter at the event reached the same conclusion and CRIA lawyer Barry Sookman is happy to do the same). His comments met with applause from the audience and will be taken as a mandate to continue the astroturfing activities on Balanced Copyright for Canada.

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The government wishes, perhaps, to avoid a repeat of what happened during last year’s expenses scandal of British labour PM Gordon Brown. It’s just too bad she can’t audit the fake lake, symbol of conservative extravagance. (?) But this is to be a non-partisan effort of course – it’s just too bad Sheila Fraser won’t be able to name names since all four major parties are swindling us.

Related: MPs shouldn’t fear expenses audit: AG | Prime Minister’s Office tells Tory MPs not to answer Citizen reporter’s questions on expenses | MPs reject request to audit expenses | MPs from all four parties ink secret deal on cash | Lax rules on political financing No. 1 global corruption threat: report | Author wins award for work identifying categories of state corruption | Tories admit to using regional funds for federal campaign last election | Another Conservative candidate attacks ‘in-out’ ad scheme | Donations of money, property and services continue to corrupt Canadian politics

CBC News
June 15, 2010

Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser will be permitted to conduct a performance audit of how parliamentarians control their budgets, but won’t audit the individual spending of all MPs.

Fraser joined Conservative House leader Jay Hill and Liberal MP Marcel Proulx in Ottawa on Tuesday to announce the terms of a deal reached with the Board of Internal Economy, an all-party body that oversees Parliament’s expenditures.

The secretive board initially rejected Fraser’s request to examine $533 million in annual spending by the House of Commons and the Senate, saying the proposed audit “would go beyond the scope of the auditor general’s mandate.”

But board members agreed to meet with Fraser and hear her intentions following a fierce public backlash and calls from other MPs for the decision to be reversed. Similar audits of politicians’ expenses in Britain and Nova Scotia sparked scandals and police investigations.

Fraser said performance audits only examine existing management practices, controls and reporting systems. She stressed that her office’s audit would not be looking at the management of individual member’s offices or the merits of their transactions.

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Apparently, allowing elected Members of Parliament to see cabinet documents is a danger to ‘national security’.

Related: Military wanted detainee whistle-blower pulled from Afghanistan | MPs reach agreement to share Afghan detainee document information | Afghan torture documents release talks get extension | Detainee documents controlled by a few top bureaucrats | Speaker orders Harper government to cough up Afghan detainee documents | Censors threaten detainee hearings | Military Police begin Afghan detainee torture investigative hearings, reporters barred | Tories table thousands more censored Afghan files | MacKay knew of Afghan detainee concerns: diplomat | Tories flood Ottawa with blacked-out documents in response to Afghan torture scandal | Opposition threatens contempt motion over Afghan torture documents | NDP tables torture-prevention bill | Ottawa anticipated Afghan torture allegations: memo | CSIS secretly interrogated Afghan prisoners | Canada wanted Afghan prisoners tortured: lawyer | Harper grilled over prorogation, Afghan detainee torture documents | MP threatens motion on Afghan documents | PM Harper downplays detainee torture scandal, prorogation | Claims troops mistreated prisoners unfounded: military police | Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006 | Canada’s troops investigated for Afghan abuse | Colvin disputes witnesses’ detainee testimony | Tories sabotage Afghan committee meeting | Canada ‘defended’ torturer | Ottawa won’t release Afghan torture documents | Top general’s Afghan detainee reversal hikes pressure for public inquiry | Richard Colvin’s Afghan torture memos reveal government concealed prisoner access issues | Torture claims unreliable, officials say, despite having found evidence of torture | MPs vote public inquiry into Afghan detainees, Tories ignore majority motion | Torture claims weren’t probed, official testified | Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue | Colvin’s testimony true: former Afghan MP | David Mulroney testifies war confused issue of torture | Hillier says he saw no credible reports of torture | Afghan torture emails reached MacKay’s office | Opposition wants documentation prior to government torture rebuttal, PM cries foul | Canadian officials discussed torture in 2006 | Canada shamed on Afghan prisoner torture | Canada ignored torture warnings: Diplomat | Military lawyer stonewalls on Afghan torture claims | Ottawa was warned Afghan detainees might be tortured | Military commission suspends torture hearings, gags witness | Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness | Federal court limits Afghan detainee torture probe | Watchdog rejects government bid to delay Afghan detainee inquiry | Ottawa moves to block Afghanistan detainee torture hearings again | Bid to Block Afghan Detainee Inquiry Slammed | What Ottawa doesn’t want you to know: Government was told detainees faced ‘extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and detention without trial’

Juliet O’Neill, Canwest News Service
June 15, 2010

OTTAWA – The New Democratic Party pulled out of an agreement on parliamentary access to Afghan detainee documents Tuesday, saying there will still be too many secret government papers and the truth may never come out.

The NDP pulled out shortly before all-party negotiations ended with an agreement reached by the Conservative government, opposition Liberals and Bloc Quebecois on details of a process to grant MPs – aided by a panel of jurists – a chance to read thousands of documents and passages from detainee-related documents that now are censored from the public on the grounds of national security.

The final agreement bars the MPs from looking at confidential cabinet documents or papers protected for reasons of solicitor-client privilege. Those exemptions were cited by the NDP as a main reason they consider the final agreement a charade and backed out at the 11th hour.

The process “will not get at the truth,” NDP defence critic Jack Harris told reporters.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe are poised to sign a memorandum of understanding on the agreement, which is to be tabled in the House of Commons. That’s unlikely to happen until after House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken responds to an NDP request to reject the deal.

The deal was the result of a ruling by Milliken in late April, in which he said Parliament has the right to see uncensored documents to hold the government accountable – but he asked MPs to work out a way to do that without jeopardizing national security or safety of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

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Oh really? And here we were thinking it was because Mackay just happened to like them best.

Related: Ottawa to spend $9-billion in sole-source deal for U.S. fighter jets | UK Report condemns WHO swine flu experts’ ties to big pharma | Mulroney-Schreiber dealings inappropriate: report | … | New $3B Defence Department plane contract requirements written to favour Italian vendor | Personal ties exposed in eHealth’s untendered contracts | Ontario eHealth approved 4.8 million in no-bid contracts | Airbus funds likely source of Schreiber’s ‘Britan’ account: witness | Former Justice Minister Accused in Suit of Accepting Kickbacks | All officers need Tasers, police associations say | Conflict questions raised over Flaherty’s budget panel | Mulroney confidant knew about Airbus commissions: CBC News investigation | Author wins award for work identifying categories of state corruption | Was Couillard used to push leasing bid? | Donations of money, property and services continue to corrupt Canadian politics | Political Intrigue in Merck’s Push for Mandatory HPV Vaccinations

Daniel Leblanc, The Globe and Mail
June 11, 2010

The $16-billion deal to buy 65 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets is one of the biggest military projects in Canadian history

The Harper government is refusing to open up the $16-billion purchase of 65 new fighter jets to a competition because of the potential negative reaction in the United States and other allied countries, internal documents show.

The purchase of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets is one of the biggest military projects in Canadian history, almost equal in size to the entire 2006 plan to acquire more than 2,000 trucks, 21 transport planes, 16 heavy helicopters and three ships for the Canadian Forces.

The fighter contract is the subject of a heated lobbying campaign in Ottawa, as rival companies try to force the government to open up the purchase to a tendering process instead of giving it out sole-sourced to Lockheed-Martin.

The controversy is expected to grow as new federal documents show that the total value of the program comes to $16-billion once 20 years of maintenance are factored in, up from the $9-billion cost for the planes that came out earlier this week.

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Holland probably has a point here: “I think the real issue here is they are much interested in playing politics with this as long as they can maybe even into a next election,” said Mr. Holland. “They are far more interested in that than actually scrapping the registry.”

Related: Bilderberg Wants Americans Disarmed And Dependent On Government | Anti-gun registry bill hits snag as committee votes not to proceed | Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry | Gun activists rally in U.S. capital | George Jonas: Mr. Bumble’s gun registry | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | Parliament votes ‘in principle’ to scrap gun registry, bill moves to second reading | Tories move closer to killing gun registry | UK: Paramilitary police placed on routine foot patrol for first time | Toronto police seize 400 guns in ’safety push’ | Handgun bans and the world of make-believe | No vote scheduled on Tory bill to kill gun registry | Americans stick to their guns as firearms sales surge | Secret Homeland Security Threat Assessment Labels Gun Owners Potential Terrorists | Harper urges supporters to fight long gun registry | Police-run gun amnesties in trouble across country | 1,900 Guns Traded for Cameras in Toronto | Toronto Police offer gun owners shiny new camera, home visit to disarm themselves | Layton promises urban gun control | Ont. premier calls for Canada-wide ban on handguns | Citizens Witness Gunplay, Black Uniforms as ‘Flashpoint’ Shoots Drama in Heart of Toronto | A historic gun club’s final days | Chicago, awash in gun violence, gives Toronto advice: You need a gun ban like ours | Illinois governor suggests National Guard help with Chicago gun crime | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | My gun, my right. We’ll see | Municipalities Join Miller in Calling for Final Citizen Disarmament | Pistol Pendant Causes Airport Holdup | Miller wants shooting ranges shut down | Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway

Jane Taber, The Globe and Mail
June 8, 2010

(Update: Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland’s motion was delayed and is expected to be made in the House on Wednesday.)

The Ignatieff Liberals are redoubling their efforts to save the long-gun registry, introducing a motion in the House of Commons this morning to keep the registry intact.

Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland devised the motion – that the House should not proceed with the Conservative bill to destroy the registry – as a way to circumvent the Harper Tories’ efforts.

After he presents it, his motion will eventually have one hour of debate in the Commons and then it will be voted on; if it passes, the gun registry will live another day.

“I think they (the Conservatives) are losing the information campaign right now,” says Mr. Holland, noting that police have come out strongly in favour of the usefulness of the registry.

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You have to look pretty hard, according to some reports, to find much evidence of development in Afghanistan. Not as though the Canadian media has been allowed to report on it that much. Apparently we’re building a dam somewhere – yes, Dhala Dam. Try finding any new information on the progress of this signature project. The government’s dam webpage was last updated October 2009. Of course, we’ve a limited number of troops available for development so it’s not their fault, the point is that the lies and evasion and spin have to stop.

Update (2010/06/09): Well, that explains why we haven’t been hearing much about Dhala Dam – there was an armed standoff between Canadian security contractors and the Karzai-affiliated Watan group back in February.

Related: Harper’s Privy Council message control system is unprecedented, critics say | Prime Minister’s Office tells Tory MPs not to answer Citizen reporter’s questions on expenses | Canada’s new information czar vows to take on delays in access system | Harper government secretly monitoring online chats about politics | Cabinet ministers’ offices regularly interfere in access to information requests, says Tory staffer | Conservatives accused of hiding information | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Ottawa won’t budge on secrecy laws | McGuinty won’t deny political interference with Freedom of Information requests | Canadian media watched closely in Afghanistan | Information commissioner quits, Ottawa chided for lacking ‘guts’ | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | Government secrecy ‘grim,’ watchdog says | Watchdog alarmed by Harper’s information clampdown | Listeria files withheld due to ’systemic’ problems with access to information | Public access vs. government secrecy the issue in Supreme Court of Canada case | Radical change needed in privacy protection, Ont. watchdog says | Files tagged as `sensitive’ cause unfair delays, watchdog says | Tentacles of Secrecy Grip Tightly | Parliament losing power, author says | Over 100 complaints about access to govt. info on Afghan mission: report | Information lockdown: How Harper Controls the Spin | Tories kill access to information database | Harper to create government-run media centre: report

Mike Blanchfield, Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
June 7, 2010

The Harper government used a pervasive message-control tool to persuade Canadians their foremost purpose in Afghanistan was building schools and fostering democracy rather than waging a war that was turning bloodier by the day.

An investigation by The Canadian Press shows The Conservatives systematically drafted “Message Event Proposals” as part of a quiet campaign to persuade Canadians their country was primarily engaged in development work to rebuild a shattered nation rather than hunting down and killing an emboldened insurgency.

The government used MEPs to literally script the words it wanted to hear from the mouths of its top diplomats, aid workers and cabinet ministers in 2007-2008 to divert public attention from the soaring double-digit death toll of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

While the message was being massaged in Ottawa, the reconstituted Taliban unleashed a fresh wave of attacks on NATO troops and innocent Kandaharis.

“Desired soundbite: ‘Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is refocusing its mission towards development, reconstruction and diplomatic efforts,’” says an MEP prepared by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing that serves the Prime Minister’s Office.

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Do MEPs extend to Access to Information requests? The arduous MEP process would explain some of the delay that has been plaguing the Access to Information process. The Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic and logistical centre of operations for the Federal government, was recently in the news as overseeing control of the Afghan detainee documents as well.

Related: Prime Minister’s Office tells Tory MPs not to answer Citizen reporter’s questions on expenses | Canada’s new information czar vows to take on delays in access system | Harper government secretly monitoring online chats about politics | Cabinet ministers’ offices regularly interfere in access to information requests, says Tory staffer | Conservatives accused of hiding information | Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | Ottawa won’t budge on secrecy laws | McGuinty won’t deny political interference with Freedom of Information requests | Canadian media watched closely in Afghanistan | Information commissioner quits, Ottawa chided for lacking ‘guts’ | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | Government secrecy ‘grim,’ watchdog says | Watchdog alarmed by Harper’s information clampdown | Listeria files withheld due to ’systemic’ problems with access to information | Public access vs. government secrecy the issue in Supreme Court of Canada case | Radical change needed in privacy protection, Ont. watchdog says | Files tagged as `sensitive’ cause unfair delays, watchdog says | Tentacles of Secrecy Grip Tightly | Parliament losing power, author says | Over 100 complaints about access to govt. info on Afghan mission: report | Information lockdown: How Harper Controls the Spin | Tories kill access to information database | Harper to create government-run media centre: report

Mike Blanchfield, Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
June 6, 2010

An MP’s Sunday afternoon visit to a seniors’ home. The federal purchase of powerful new military aircraft. A journalism student’s innocuous query about Africa.

One thing connects them all – the Conservative government scripted each event using a potent but little-known communication tool called the Message Event Proposal.

The Canadian Press has obtained almost 1,000 pages of MEPs from several government departments, including the Privy Council Office, under the Access to Information Act. The PCO, the bureaucratic nerve centre of Ottawa, has been conscripted by an increasingly powerful Prime Minister’s Office to vet requests for public events across the federal government.

The MEPs have blurred the time-honoured separation of non-partisan public servants and political staffers and sidelined seasoned government communicators, sapping morale across the civil service.

They have become the political tool for literally putting words in the mouths of cabinet ministers, federal bureaucrats, low-profile MPs on the barbecue circuit, and seasoned diplomats abroad.

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We would that our Dear Leader shared with the plebes an accounting of the use of their tax dollars. Particularly in light of the fact that the courtesans and gentlemen of the crown have graciously acquiesced to consider the request of our Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, to conduct just such an exercise. (What are the chances?)

Related: Canada’s new information czar vows to take on delays in access system | Cabinet ministers’ offices regularly interfere in access to information requests, says Tory staffer | Conservatives accused of hiding information | Ottawa won’t budge on secrecy laws | McGuinty won’t deny political interference with Freedom of Information requests | Information commissioner quits, Ottawa chided for lacking ‘guts’ | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | Government secrecy ‘grim,’ watchdog says | Watchdog alarmed by Harper’s information clampdown | Listeria files withheld due to ’systemic’ problems with access to information | Public access vs. government secrecy the issue in Supreme Court of Canada case | Radical change needed in privacy protection, Ont. watchdog says | Files tagged as `sensitive’ cause unfair delays, watchdog says | Tentacles of Secrecy Grip Tightly | Parliament losing power, author says | Over 100 complaints about access to govt. info on Afghan mission: report | Information lockdown: How Harper Controls the Spin | Tories kill access to information database | Harper to create government-run media centre: report

The Ottawa Citizen
June 4, 2010

OTTAWA – The Prime Minister’s Office has told Conservative MPs not to answer questions from two newspaper reporters about homes that the MPs own in Ottawa.

The Citizen and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald are collaborating on a story on expense claims and contacted several MPs over the past week.

But when word filtered back to the PMO on Friday, Conservative staff sent out an e-mail gag order. It was obtained by CTV’s Power Play with Tom Clark, a daily politics program.

While the PMO is often suspected of controlling the communications of MPs, the e-mail gives a rare peek at how it’s done.

“PMO has advised that Glen McGregor (Ottawa Citizen) and Stephen Maher (Chronicle Herald) are contacting some MPs’ offices regarding MPs who own residences in Ottawa for a story,” says the e-mail from a Conservative staffer.

“PMO is asking MPs to hold on responding to this media request until further notice,” the e-mail says, referring any questions to Drew Campbell, who works on the PMO’s Atlantic desk.

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Related: Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry | Gun activists rally in U.S. capital | George Jonas: Mr. Bumble’s gun registry | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | BATF Notice Bans Private Gun Sales In Texas | Parliament votes ‘in principle’ to scrap gun registry, bill moves to second reading | Tories move closer to killing gun registry | UK: Paramilitary police placed on routine foot patrol for first time | Toronto police seize 400 guns in ’safety push’ | Handgun bans and the world of make-believe | No vote scheduled on Tory bill to kill gun registry | Americans stick to their guns as firearms sales surge | Secret Homeland Security Threat Assessment Labels Gun Owners Potential Terrorists | Harper urges supporters to fight long gun registry | Police-run gun amnesties in trouble across country | 1,900 Guns Traded for Cameras in Toronto | Toronto Police offer gun owners shiny new camera, home visit to disarm themselves | Layton promises urban gun control | Ont. premier calls for Canada-wide ban on handguns | Citizens Witness Gunplay, Black Uniforms as ‘Flashpoint’ Shoots Drama in Heart of Toronto | A historic gun club’s final days | Chicago, awash in gun violence, gives Toronto advice: You need a gun ban like ours | Illinois governor suggests National Guard help with Chicago gun crime | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | My gun, my right. We’ll see | Municipalities Join Miller in Calling for Final Citizen Disarmament | Pistol Pendant Causes Airport Holdup | Miller wants shooting ranges shut down | Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway

The Canadian Press
June 3, 2010

A Commons committee has voted not to proceed with a private member’s bill to scrap the controversial long-gun registry.

Tory MP Candice Hoeppner’s bill to eliminate the requirement to register non-restricted firearms has been given a thumbs down by Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois members of the committee.

However, it’s not dead yet.

The committee’s recommendation must still be put to a vote in the House of Commons, where MPs could choose to ignore the committee and pass the bill.

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