ZIFFPAGE TITLECanada Firearms
By Mel Duvall
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A national computerized firearm registry in Canada was supposed to cost taxpayers $2 million. Instead, it has held them up for more than $1 billion.
Base Case">Canada Firearms Base Case
Headquarters:
284 Wellington St.,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0H8
Phone:
(800) 731-4000
Business:
Government agency responsible for issuing firearms licenses and registering firearms.
Commissioner of Firearms:
William Baker
Financials:
$16 million Canadian ($11.8 million U.S.) in revenue from user fees in 2003; $33 million in operating costs.
Program implementation forecast:
$119 million
Actual cost:
$1 billion
Challenges:
To bring the program's annual operating expenses in line with revenues and overcome public hostility to the program's runaway implementation costs.
Baseline Goals
- Reduce annual operating expenses to $25 million per year, from $135 million in 2001.
- Cut waiting times for registration approvals to 30 days, from six months.
- Lower cost of processing licenses to $5.50, from $23.75, and registration forms to $4.60, from $16.28.
- Reduce follow-up inquiries to fewer than 20% of registrations, from 90%.
