Canada's new minister of public safety says the government has no plans to back off on its intention to scrap the controversial long gun registry.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his plan to kill the registry during the election campaign, and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told CTV's Question Period the plan hasn't changed.

"We're not backing away at all," Day said on Sunday. "We're moving ahead on this. It was an election promise. It's something we've been talking about for years."

The government recently formed a committee that includes Day, Justice Minister Vic Toews, and long-time registry critic Garry Breitkreuz, a Saskatchewan MP.

The committee is charged with studying the issue and determining the best course of action for scrapping it.

Day said the total registry costs could be approaching $2 billion, while the registry has not had a positive impact on gun crime.

"It has not reduced gun crime," he said. "As a matter of fact, homicide rates in the last two years have gone up in Canada. And we have committed to scrapping it."

However, Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said the registry has helped improve public safety.

"It's true that rifles and shotguns aren't used today as frequently as handguns in murders, but that was not the case 15 years ago," she told CTV.ca. "And one of the reasons why murders with rifles and shotguns have declined so precipitously is because of the stronger controls on them."

She added that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, along with major public safety groups and violence against women organizations, insist the registry is essential to fighting gun crime.

Law enforcement officials reportedly used the registry several thousand times a day over the last quarter of 2005.

More police on the streets

Day said all angles must be explored before the registry can be taken out of circulation.

"We're in that process," he said. "It takes a while to sort through the regulatory stuff, what can be done through regulation, what has to be done through change of legislation. That would involve my colleague Vic Toews in terms of the justice ministry. There's a lot of mechanical things that have to be done."

He added that the government will battle gun crime by putting more police on the streets and creating crime prevention programs for at-risk youth and gang related activity. It will pay for these programs with the money saved by killing the registry.

"We believe a lot of savings that will come from doing away with this ineffective registry will actually meet those goals," Day said. "We are not backing away."

As for about 200 government employees in Miramichi, New Brunswick who work for the registry, Day said the government is committed to making sure they don't lose their jobs.

Although the government plans to scrap the registry, it has no plans to make it easier to legally own firearms. Day said the process to obtain a firearms license is difficult, and it will remain so.

Day also said the handgun registry will remain in place.