MP Blaine Calkins launches e-petition for info on gun registry data

Zac Kurylyk in Guns on May 12, 2021

After last week's revelation that law enforcement is still using federal long gun registration data, years after it was supposed to be destroyed, MP Blaine Calkins is taking action. He's launched a new petition that asks for assurance the data is actually deleted. The petition also calls for an inquiry into why that gun registry data is still being used.

Background

When the Conservative Party gained a federal majority in 2011, one of the government's priorities was ending the federal non-restricted firearms registry. The registry was long viewed as wasteful and ineffective by law enforcement, firearms owners, and voters once cost overruns came to light.

In 2012, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Peter Henschel told Parliament the gun registry was gone. The RCMP destroyed the gun registry data, he said (with the exception of Quebec, which set up its own registry). And yet, in the years that followed, occasional incidents (the High River gun grab, in particular) hinted some law enforcement officers still had access to the registry's information.

Then, Ontario-based lawyer Ed Burlew found evidence that some police were using long gun registry data, years after it was supposedly deleted. We talked to Mr. Burlew last week; you can read our write-up here, and see his interview with Ian Runkle below.

Reacting to Burlew's information

Canadian firearms owners were incensed after hearing gun registry data wasn't deleted, despite laws requiring uired its destruction. There's been little buzz out of Ottawa over the past week, but rumour says some MPs are also very unhappy. At this point, there's been little action, though, except for this petition from Blaine Calkins, MP for Red Deer – Lacombe.

Here's what Petition E-3388 reads:

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:

The Ending the Long-gun Registry Act received royal assent on April 5, 2012, ordering the deletion of the wasteful and ineffective Long-gun Registry;
The Long-gun registry did nothing to enhance public safety in Canada; and
It has come to light that the RCMP have unlawfully retained a copy of the personal data that was ordered deleted by Parliament and continues to use said data.

We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to

1. Ensure that the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act is fully upheld and that all personal data associated with the Long-gun Registry, including copies retained by the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies, is fully and permanently deleted;

2. Ensure the deletion is independently verified;

3. Launch an arm’s length public commission under the Inquiries Act to investigate the disregard for the rule of law exhibited by the parties that retained the Long-gun Registry data, that commissioners be appointed, that the commission be authorized to engage the services of the necessary experts, including legal counsel, to assist them in the inquiry, and that the results of the commission be made public.

You can sign the e-petition here, at the parliamentary website.

Will anyone pay attention?

The reality is, even if hundreds of thousands of Canadians sign E-3388, it may be ignored by media and politicians. The federal government's response to Petition E-2341 was introduce more gun control, instead of addressing the petition's concerns. However, any political action has to start somewhere; E-3388 gives leaders something to work with, if Canadians sign it.