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Allan Rock, Mike Harris, Ralph Klein, Anne McLellan |
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Another Billion Bucks Shot To Hell |
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| Edmonton - Monday, December 9, 2002 - by: Ron Thornton | |||||||
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hasn't |
With what has to rate as one of the true classic excuses, ranking right up there with "The dog ate my homework", Allan Rock blames the slight rise in costs to the Canadian public for the Gun Control Registry, from $2-million to $1-billion, on Ralph Klein, Mike Harris and the gun lobby. The Industry Minister, ex-Justice Minister, and Prime Ministerial hopeful would appear to be wanting to give us the impression that he had no clue that anyone, even those who own guns, might not care for the initiative and failed to even address the possibility. I, for one, would like to defend Mr. Rock. If the man is willing to tell us that he hasn't a clue, I'm more than prepared to believe him. | ||||||
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nothing |
We have watched as the cost estimates have gone flying off into the stratosphere and seen how bungled the process has been, from simply getting out and processing the paperwork to being totally unable to put together a reliable data base. For a billion bucks we have a system that isn't reliable, except for the prospect of making good citizens criminals for not buying in, and disarming others so they might make easier targets for the criminal element. Of course, those who are contemplating committing a crime using a gun probably aren't terribly concerned about contravening a few rules regarding registering their piece. | ||||||
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air freshener |
There are those who are concerned about guns, who docilely accept this nonsensical farce as a positive step in their control because, well, because they have been told it is. Those who have the ability to reason take a different view, who fail to see how a single life might be spared by the registering of a gun. Taking away its ammunition, removing firing pins, filling the barrels with cement, maybe, but the only thing a registered gun would provide is a chance for investigators to check, after the deed is done, where the gun came from. Then again, that is providing the serial numbers had not been removed. In essence, this whole botched system is to gun control what witch doctors are to health care or what hanging an air freshener on a smoke stack is to environmental control. All this for a billion of your tax dollars. | ||||||
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Alberta |
While Allan Rock takes a hit on this debacle, Health Minister Anne McLellan spent a lot of time in the Justice portfolio and must accept a good deal of the responsibility. Here is irrefutable evidence that the people of Canada got a raw deal, but we don't hear any promises to resign over this issue. Then again, if the Kyoto Accord turns out as bad for Albertans economically as gun control has been for the treasury, I think McLellan already knows that she would be facing a full blown independence movement flourishing back home. Confronted with potential Kyoto and Gun Control fallout, and with the Romanow Report on health care next on her dance card, it would appear the Alberta MP will be spending more time running for cover than putting together a credible run for her party's top job. | ||||||
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budgetary |
Which brings us to the man who would be king. Ex-Finance Minister Paul Martin, who many expect to be the next Prime Minister of Canada, was also the guy who kept the cash flowing into this budgetary black hole. Like a rich and generous uncle who, instead of buying his nephew those cherished season tickets up in the nose bleeds ends up buying the kid the bloody franchise, Martin didn't seem to balk at being the registry's sugar daddy. You can't spend money you don't have, yet the man at the financial gate didn't seem to be of much good in his role as guardian of the public purse. We already know that any moron can live at 24 Sussex Drive, but it would be reassuring to know that we had someone there who we can trust to look after our best interests. I've got a billion reasons to wonder if Paul Martin is such a person. | ||||||
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let them |
Of course, if it isn't Ralph or Mike or gun lobbies, it might be the Prime Minister's fault, or the political snipers from their own backbench. Just maybe that same dog, after eating the homework, came back to also chew up their well thought of plans for gun control and they just implemented what recycled out the other end. No matter how they try to deflect the criticism, each of these potential leaders of our nation hold a good deal of the responsibility for this mess. Are you prepared to let them off the hook? Hey, it's your money. | ||||||
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