By
May 3, 2021
-The Western Standard
The RCMP kept a copy of the long-gun gun registry even though it was ordered destroyed, says a media report.
Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley focused his Sunday report on a lawyer named Ed Burlew, who says while preparing for a case he came across information that could have only come from the registry.
“I was shocked and disgusted,” Burlew told Lilley.
“They kept it, it’s a secret file. This shows there is someone within the RCMP who has deliberately lied to Parliament and the courts.”
The documents Berlew reviewed contained not only the serial number of each firearm seized, but also the Firearm Identification Number, a number that would not exist or be attached to the rifles and shotguns seized without a copy of the registry existing.
One security expert who works with both police and defence lawyers on sensitive files told Lilley he believes most major police forces in Canada kept a copy of the registry and use it regularly.
The RCMP did not respond to requests for comment.
Lilley noted this isn’t the first time advocates have suspected police were using gun registry data.
The long-gun registry was brought into being in 1995 with Bill C-68 but was done away with after the passage of Bill C-19 in 2012.
“Regardless of your position on guns, every Canadian should be concerned when a police force actively subverts the laws they are sworn to uphold,” Lilley wrote.
The incident has also disgusted , but not surprised, Rod Giltaca, CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights.
He said when the registry was ordered destroyed, it was at the same time someone filed a
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) request to see the list. A complete list was printed off and now sits in a safe in Ottawa for when the FOIP request is ruled on.
Giltaca said it was also printed out because of a promise that if Quebec wanted it for their own registry, they could use it.
“I can only imagine when RCMP use it when it suits them,” said Giltaca, whose Ottawa-based group has 32,000 members.
“Look at how they used it in High River. They went back to the same house three times looking for guns (because the owner was on the registry).
“The fact we tolerate the RCMP doing this, when they are enforcing the laws on us…” Gilatica said, letting the sentence end.
Giltaca said his group is now working on a “monstrous” campaign to battle Justin Trudeau’s Liberals whenever he calls an election.
