Following is a brief outline of my life (as I see it). I hope this background information gives you a better idea of who I am, as a person and as a family man.

My name is Bruce Montague. I was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Dec. 13, 1958.

I married my high school girlfriend Donna Konkle during my first year at Mohawk College (1979). I completed a three year Engineering Technology Diploma in "Control Systems" (focus on computer electronics). Donna took a two year course in Data Processing, and got a job as a Computer Programmer before I graduated.

I graduated in 1981 and started working at NCR in Waterloo the same year. I worked in the Research and Development Lab, designing, building, and testing electronic and mechanical equipment for processing cheques at financial institutions.

In 1987, I started a hobby business which included gunsmithing. In 1989 we moved to St. Jacobs, just north of Waterloo and opened a sporting goods store called Monty's Gun and Sport. This was still a "hobby" business but was taking up a lot of time, and starting to make as much money as I did at my day job. I had a few employees and prospects were looking good in this venture.

In 1991 I resigned from NCR and moved to Dryden in Northwestern Ontario. I ran two businesses from Dryden. I operated a leak locating business that located breaks in municipal water lines. I also continued to operate as a full time gunsmith under the business name Monty's Gunsmithing.

Shortly after the move to Dryden, Kim Campbell introduced bill C-17. This was the start of the large scale gun confiscations as many types of guns and magazines were prohibited. This is about the time I realized that the gun industry in Canada was in real trouble. But I continued to stick it out and build my business.

By 1994, the gunsmithing business was starting to do better for me. My reputation was growing with sportsman and I was the armorer for a few police forces in the area. At about the same time bill C-68 came into being and was proclaimed into law in 1995. At this point I knew the gun culture in Canada was doomed to extinction, if something didn't change.

I became very politically active and vocal, criticizing the parliamentary process and un-constitutionality of bill C-68. I continue in this fight, to this day.

In 1996 I started construction of my wife's dream home, and my dream shop. First I built the shop for us to live in for about three months. The basement of the house was then built, and we moved into that for the winter. The next three years were spent building as we could afford it. Three years might seem slow, but this is a log home and it was done single handedly during my "spare time" with no outside help (gunsmiths don't make enough money to hire professionals).

I have three kids, Steven (born 1984), Michael (born 1987) and Katey (born 1991 in Dryden). I am very proud of all three of my kids. They are all intelligent free thinkers, with a passion for life and learning, both in and out of school.

Steven is now in his third year of pre-med at Queen's University in Kingston Ontario. His goal is to become a surgeon. I just hope he doesn't scare too many patients away with his knife and sword collection. He has adapted well to university life and is keeping his marks above 80%.

Michael is in grade 12 (academic stream). He is doing very well academically, and is hoping to enroll at a university next year, to take up a career in dentistry. A good friend of ours is the best dentist in the area, and I think Michael has looked toward him as a role model.

Katey is in grade 8. She is enrolled in a special fine arts program. If students in the regular school system have high enough marks they can apply for acceptance into this program. The first half of the day is a compressed academic timetable (i.e. the normal school curriculum) then during the afternoon the curriculum focuses on drama, art and music. Katey is definitely an "artsy", and loves this school's program (so do we). Right now she has aspirations on becoming a teacher in the fine arts.

My wife, Donna, has been with me for most of my life. We grew up just two block away from each other. After moving to Dryden she got a job at the local pulp and paper mill in their accounting dept., where she still works. (I'm sure glad someone in our house is making money!) Donna is a very "artsy" person, and has passed much of that passion on to Katey. She is active in stained glass, pottery, painting (mostly landscapes) and sewing. She's made all of our curtains, quilts and much of our household ornaments and artwork.

I have been active in church since childhood. After graduation and until about six years ago I was a youth leader in the various Lutheran churches I belonged to. Six years ago, I felt a calling to get into "drama ministry". I am very excited about this area of ministry, and enjoy working with other Christians in spreading the word of God in this way.

We are a very close family, and we do most of our activities together. We are all active in many outdoor activities such as canoeing, hunting, fishing, camping and X-country skiing. We don't have cable or satellite TV, so we do old fashioned things like, reading books or socializing with other people.

I think that pretty much sums up the life of Bruce Montague. Maybe before I die, I'll be able to fill two more pages about my life.

By Bruce Montague, October 14, 2004