In interesting news yesterday, the Ministry of Public Safety has agreed that compensation would be paid in the case of confiscation.

The CSSA applauds this small step forward, and applauds the Minister for taking it, but wishes to remind members that the fight is far from over. Compensation does not make confiscation acceptable.

The CSSA/CILA does not support ANY confiscations of ANY kind. The decision to pay compensation for the seized T-97's merely represents a portion of the accountability the CSSA has demanded from government, as a consequence of the decisions made by government. This represents a considerable change in policy from previous governments and raises the bar on future decisions to confiscate the T-97's from Lever Arms and Canada Ammo.

For those that do not follow our legislative efforts, the CSSA/CILA has been actively engaged for well over eighteen months in trying to avert confiscation and re-classification/re-evaluation efforts by the RCMP. Our effort, and the efforts of others, were able to keep those RCMP initiatives at bay until recently.

We have not been informed if there are any conditions to the compensation as may be required by the Treasury Board and have been led to believe compensation will be in full. This move by the government, in no way, diminishes our efforts to prevent future confiscations nor does it prevent current T-97 owners from pursuing the issue in court and to all who choose to engage in a Reference Hearing, we wish them success. As well, the owners of these T-97's should continue to demand a full disclosure of the report prohibiting the guns.

There are still some 3,000+ firearms caught in limbo by the RCMP and rest assured, the CSSA/CILA will make every effort to ensure those firearms are released to the civilian market with appropriate classifications.

Tony Bernardo

Canadian Institute for Legislative Action
"Defending Canada's Heritage"
P. 905-571-2150
F. 905-436-7721
abernardo343@rogers.com