A few aspects of this story about Quebec’s desire to have its own long weapons registry are taking some interesting twists. There are privacy questions, but not in the way that a libertarian would think about them. There are archival concerns. There are interprovincial issues. It almost seems as though more government employees are busy with its demise than there was with its creation.
The Quebec argument that even though the federal registry was outrageously expensive and useless their own will not be appears humorous on its face, but it is in fact somewhat scary. Few provinces do centralisation as well as Quebec does.
The fact that there is significant support for a provincial long gun registry in Quebec may also in fact be evidence that Allan Rock was right in originally establishing the largely useless federal registry if the objective was to get Quebec votes. Premier Jean Charest seems to be banking on the same idea.
Ultimately, the case demonstrates the theoretical principle that a government machinery desirous of keeping control of more and more facets of people’s lives is not easily turned around with a mere change of elected officials in Parliament. It’s hard to send Leviathan back into the depths whence it comes.
