Gun registry jobs safe for now, N.B. city told
More than 200 employees of the federal gun registry in Miramichi, N.B.,are breathing a temporary sigh of relief after Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day assured them their jobs are safe for now.
Day announced plans to overhaul the registry on Wednesday âa day after Auditor General Sheila Fraser issued a report that said the former Liberal government had hidden the cost of the registry, which totalled $946 million at the end of the 2005 fiscal year.
The Conservatives have long opposed the registry, and promised during the election campaign to scrap it. But the minority government elected on Jan. 23 has apparently put those ambitions aside for now.
At an Ottawa press conference Tuesday, Day said the workers at the Canadian Firearms Centre in Miramichi should continue to go to work and do their jobs. He said they are valued federal employees and nothing will change for them yet.
'We're worried about the 200 jobs, the people here.Abolish a program, fine, but don't abolish the people.' -Canadian Firearms Centre employee Francine McDougall
But workers at the centre say they've never felt secure in their jobs. Employee Francine McDougall said the Tory government is the most serious threat they've ever faced.
"We're worried about the 200 jobs, the people here," she said. "Abolish a program, fine, but don't abolish the people. We're human beings and we need work, and we need anything we can get in this area.
"But we're not hearing that. We're just hearing kill the registry, but we're alive."
For the mostly female clerical workers inside the facility, the idea of losing good-paying federal jobs is devastating.
The workers want Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Tory government to understand the impact of a mass layoff.
"I would let him know that we are real people here, we worry about our jobs. It is our livelihoods. It is our families that most of us are supporting," said Jo-Anne Dawson. "It's going to have a big impact on us."
Despite the nationwide debate about the gun registry, the centre has given the Miramichi a much-needed financial boost.
The city has had its share of hard knocks during the past decadeâa federal base closure, mill closures and now the possible changes at the firearms centre.
But Miramichi Mayor John McKay said he hasn't given up on the jobs yet.
"The government has made a clear decision that it's going to make changes. They also made a commitment that there'd be no job loss here, that there would be other types of activity that would employ these very well-trained people, and that commitment was made by the prime minister himself."