December 11, 2002 - Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) is demanding that all firearms owners be treated equally under The Canadian Firearms Act pursuant to the Canadian Charter of Rights.
"The Charter of Rights is very clear that all citizens of this country stand equal before the law," says Greg Illerbrun, Firearms Chairperson for the SWF. "While we congratulate Nunavut on their recent court victory, and stand with them against this hideous waste of taxpayer¹s money, we demand the Government of Canada extend the same exemption to all Canadians.
Section 15. (1) of the Charter states "Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability."
"The Nunavut case cites numerous implementation problems with the new firearms regime including a lack of services, application forms and overall poor communication with their people as having contributed to the low compliance rate for firearms registration requirements," said Illerbrun. "It has been well documented in the media that these issues have been the same for all firearms owners in Canada as well as high error rates by the Canadian Firearms Centre for registrations, many changes in program requirements, closure of local Firearms Registrar offices and more recently clogged phone and internet information lines."
"It is morally reprehensible that the Liberal Government is poised to make criminals out of law abiding citizens while stealing over a billion dollars from their wallets at the same time."
"Canadians need to be aware that the Auditor General¹s recent report cited that the Liberal Government sees "the use of firearms is in itself a questionable activity", however, we believe that all citizens of this country have a right to equal treatment under the law" Illerbrun said.
For More Information:
Greg Illerbrun
giller@sk.sympatico.ca
Tel: (306) 773-2566 (work)
Fax: (306) 773-0733