Supreme Court rules Quebec's long gun registry data can be destroyed

[Wahoo]

The federal government has the right to destroy data collected on long-gun owners in Quebec, the Supreme Court has ruled.

In a split 5-4 decision, the top court found the government’s law requiring the destruction of gun certificate information is lawful under the Constitution, and the province of Quebec has no right to the data.

The decision marks a victory for the Conservative government on a key hot-button issue on which it has campaigned for years.


The judges went out of their way to say it was not ruling on the policy merits of a long-gun registry or its destruction, only on the legality of the government’s latest law.

The majority wrote, “to some Parliament’s choice to destroy this data will undermine public safety and waste enormous amounts of public money” but “to others it will seem to be the dismantling of an ill-advised regime and the overdue restoration of the privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners. But these competing views about the merits of Parliament’s policy choice are not at issue here.”
Quebec had argued the database was a joint effort by both federal and provincial authorities, and therefore Quebec had the right to the information in the spirit “cooperative federalism,” a legal concept that ensures flexibility in the separation of powers.

But the majority opinion written by Justices Thomas Cromwell and Andromache Karakatsanis found that principle was not applicable, and the constitutional division of powers authorizes Ottawa to take unilateral action in matters of criminal law.


Three Quebec justices dissented

In a dissenting opinion, Justices Louis LeBel, Richard Wagner, and Clement Gascon wrote that the federal decision to destroy the data was intended to harm the other level of government, namely the province of Quebec.

The ruling applies to the certificate system for long-gun owners in Quebec, which was created by the then-Liberal government in 1998. The Quebec records comprise certificate information for some 500,000 gun owners in that province. All other certificate data on gun owners in the other provinces and territories was destroyed when the Conservative government dismantled the registry three years ago.

​The provinces still control information on gun licences.

Quebec won its case to obtain the data in Quebec Superior Court in 2012, but that decision was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2013.

Today’s ruling is expected to anger gun-control advocates and please rural long-gun owners.

The long-gun registry was created partly in response to the mass shootings of female engineering students at Montreal’s École Polytechnique in 1989.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/supr...oyed-1.3011843

[terrym]

Interesting timing of this ruling in an election year? Agenda driven????

[MikePal]

It'll be interesting to see if Quebec decides to go ahead and built (from scratch) their own registry.....

[revrnd]

The CBC has reported that the Quebec justice minister has said Quebec will set up their own registry.

Wendy C' was on yammering, no tears though.

[MikePal]

Interesting timing of this ruling in an election year? Agenda driven????

This was forced into a supreme court decision by Quebec's appeal....I don't think the timing has to do with election politics per see. Doesn't hurt Harper to win this mind you.

[trimmer21]

Given the ruling against Alberta where they couldn't "opt out" of the Chretien governments registry because it was the sole domain of the feds,I doubt Quebec will be allowed to start their own,unless,of course,they use the "notwithstanding" clause in the Charter which could cause a constitutional crisis. I think they'll huff and puiff,as usual,but,essentially,they're screwed and the rest of the BS will be strictly face-saving.

[welsh]

Given the ruling against Alberta where they couldn't "opt out" of the Chretien governments registry because it was the sole domain of the feds,I doubt Quebec will be allowed to start their own....

There is no legal impediment to Quebec starting its own.

Alberta never asked to opt out. Alberta challenged the constitutionality of the Firearms Act, arguing that regulating private property is the domain of the provinces. The Supreme Court disagreed, noting that the Firearms Act provides a regulatory underpinning to certain sections of the Criminal Code and that criminal law is the domain of the federal government.

People continually misinterpret that ruling, saying that guns are an exclusive federal jurisdiction, etc. The court never said that. All it said was that the federal government had not exceeded its powers when it passed the Firearms Act. And the court also specifically said that its ruling had no bearing on whether the provinces had the power to register firearms.

Quebec has the power to require that firearms be registered, because it has the power to regulate private property -- just as Quebec has the power to require that motor vehicles be registered.

What Quebec can't do is provide criminal penalties for non-compliance. The other thing they probably can't do is pay for a registry, which is the real reason this will amount to little more than huffing and puffing.

[greatwhite]

In your opinion would Quebec have the right to prevent other Canadians from passing throught there province with firearms that are not registered with them.

For example if you were hunting in Quebec and obvisously your gun isn't registered could the Officer confiscate your gun purposely ruin your hunt claiming he had to investigate whether or not you can be in their province or something along those lines?

There is no legal impediment to Quebec starting its own.

Alberta never asked to opt out. Alberta challenged the constitutionality of the Firearms Act, arguing that regulating private property is the domain of the provinces. The Supreme Court disagreed, noting that the Firearms Act provides a regulatory underpinning to certain sections of the Criminal Code and that criminal law is the domain of the federal government.

People continually misinterpret that ruling, saying that guns are an exclusive federal jurisdiction, etc. The court never said that. All it said was that the federal government had not exceeded its powers when it passed the Firearms Act. And the court also specifically said that its ruling had no bearing on whether the provinces had the power to register firearms.

Quebec has the power to require that firearms be registered, because it has the power to regulate private property -- just as Quebec has the power to require that motor vehicles be registered.

What Quebec can't do is provide criminal penalties for non-compliance. The other thing they probably can't do is pay for a registry, which is the real reason this will amount to little more than huffing and puffing.

[terrym]

In your opinion would Quebec have the right to prevent other Canadians from passing throught there province with firearms that are not registered with them.

For example if you were hunting in Quebec and obvisously your gun isn't registered could the Officer confiscate your gun purposely ruin your hunt claiming he had to investigate whether or not you can be in their province or something along those lines?

That would have enormously negative effects on Outfitters and Tourism. Can't see them being that stupid. Reality is this new government is new and has a strong majority and don't need to pander to any special interests just quite yet. They have other places to spend the money.

[trimmer21]

The CBC has reported that the Quebec justice minister has said Quebec will set up their own registry.

Wendy C' was on yammering, no tears though.

I wouldn't be surprised if we hear all kinds of liberal "spin" and misinformation from the CBC. They beat the drum for the Liberal's gun control agenda from the get-go,louder than anybody.