The Conservative government is set to bring in legislation as early as Monday to formally abolish the federal long-gun registry — even though MPs won't be able to vote on it until the fall, and it may not pass even then.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will likely claim the reason for introducing the bill now is to give MPs and interested groups a chance to study the legislation over the summer.
But sources say there is also a political reason for the timing.
Backbench Tories, especially from rural and western ridings, want to be able to tell constituents who complain about the registry that the legislative wheels are in motion to get rid of it.
"It's purely symbolic," said one Conservative insider.
Another suggested the timing could be a kind of insurance policy, helping to persuade voters the government is doing all it can to eliminate the much-criticized registry even if unforeseen events force an election before the job is finished.
Unfortunately, it looks like opposition will gang up to defeat it. The Liberals no longer have the rural base to influence them, the NDP loves the gun registry, and the Bloc needs to show that it's not in the Tories' pocket on every issue.
And it's hard to see where there are more votes to be gained by using this as a reason to call for a majority government. Urban voters' fear of all firearms will convince them that keeping the registry was a good idea; there are few rural votes to be tapped that the Tories don't already have, either.
In the bid to win more urban votes, the registry might have to be allowed to survive on life support.
A bitter pill to swallow.
Source: Globe and Mail
2 comments:
Harper is not forgetting his base. A mistake that Klein made in the last provincial election here, and ditto it seems for John Tory in Ontario. There's just no point pandering to the wing-nuts, as they will NEVER vote for you.
And it works the same in reverse.
Iggy is right to talk about a carbon tax. Martin burned all the bridges to Alberta last election, so the Libs should use that to their advantage. Keep demonizing us, play the politics of resentment, pander to THEIR base.
I've beem doing my little part to fight the gun registry (C-68 - ALL of it!) since it was a gleam in Allan Rock's crooked eye back in 1994.
I personally predicted that it would cost in excess of $2 BILLION, but they went ahead with it anyway. My new prediction is that there is more waste and stolen money in the execution of the Firearms Act than there was in AdScam. $250 Million computer systems - that need to be built twice???!!! I'd love to have that contract!
The Liberal$ are defending this with their lives because if the truth comes out, it will destroy them. They will never get elected again. Some of them may even end up in jail, (we can hope!).
Can someone please tell me why Allan Rock is still representing Canada at the UN?
I think that the Conservatives are trying to give us gun owners what we want without scaring the hell out of the old ladies in Toronto. Should the Conservatives get a majority government, C-68 is toast. 10 years over due.
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