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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FastC6 who wrote (338033)	1/5/2003 2:10:05 PM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 769667

Let's not make this mistake... repost from canada thread on is Cost soars for gun registry computer system Suspend program, Ontario urges By KIM LUNMAN Saturday, January 4, 2003 OTTAWA -- The federal government spent nearly $160-million to create a computer system to run the national firearms registry -- and now it's spending another $36-million to figure out how to replace it. That makes the total cost of the system nearly $200-million to date, 100 times more than the government's initial estimate of what the entire registry would cost taxpayers, according to documents obtained through the Access to Information Act. Two days after the gun-control law took effect, it continues to draw criticism and anger. Edmonton mail sorters discovered a powder-laced letter addressed to the Canadian Firearms Centre, and were quarantined for several hours after the substance initially tested positive for anthrax. And the Ontario government called on Ottawa yesterday to suspend implementation of the registry until federal Auditor-General Sheila Fraser completes another audit of its costs. "The federal firearms program is a billion-dollar black hole," Ontario's Tory Minister of Public Safety and Security Bob Runciman told a news conference. "This is an unconscionable waste of taxpayers' money on an initiative that focuses primarily on law-abiding citizens." Last month, Ms. Fraser's report into the costs of the gun registry found that it will end up costing $1-billion by 2004-05 -- a far cry from the initial estimate of $119-million. The report also found the government did not provide enough data to Parliament on the program's escalating costs. Ms. Fraser said the computer system was one of the reasons for the rise in costs, noting that more than 1,000 changes to the system were ordered between 1997 and 1999. She was unable to say how much it cost to set up the national computer network. But that was outlined in a briefing memo last April from senior officials in the department of Public Works to former Public Works minister Don Boudria, the Liberal government House Leader. The memo reveals that Ottawa paid $158.8-million in contracts to set up the Canadian Firearms Registration System -- the computer database that keeps track of firearms and licensed gun owners -- in 1997. The system needs to be able to record the estimated 7.9 million firearms and 2.3 million gun owners in Canada. It must also be able to link up with systems used by police. The memo, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, stated the current value of the contract for the initial set up and operation of the system was $158,831,536. The companies that received the contract for the work were EDS Canada Ltd. and SHL Systemhouse. Then last year, the memo said, the government awarded another $35.7-million contract to an alternative service provider to re-evaluate the computer system and look at a new program to replace it. That contract went to CGI Group Inc. and BDP Business Data Services Ltd. David Austin, spokesman for the Canadian Firearms Centre, said yesterday that the 1997 computer system is outdated and needed to be replaced. "It's got to be topnotch," he said. "It's a system that was built in the 1990s. Sometimes in technology, things happen. Technology changes and sometimes you have to change it." Mr. Runciman said the federal government has yet to produce evidence that the gun registry has had any positive effect on reducing criminal acts involving firearms. He said the money being spent on the registry should be used on police and other agencies to help keep firearms out of the hands of violent criminals. Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, said the provinces must comply with the firearms registry. He said the system will keep streets safer and is already successful in screening gun owners, having denied licences to 7000 individuals so far. "Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water," he said. "The law is in effect. It's the law of the land." In her report, Ms. Fraser cited the firearms registry as a glaring example of the government's "inexcusable failure" to account for how it spends Canadians' tax dollars. The results of an independent audit into the national firearms registry are expected later this month. theglobeandmail.com.