MP chose constituency over party in gun vote
Published Friday November 6th, 2009
Politics: N.B. Liberal went with people of his riding in backing bill to scrap long-gun registry
OTTAWA - It's rare that an MP parts with his leader on a national issue that is defining for political parties and divisive among Canadians.
Jean-Claude D'Amours did just that Wednesday evening.
A free vote on a Conservative MP's private member's bill allowed D'Amours to make up his own mind without having to follow the dictates of Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff.
And D'Amours concluded it's time to scrap the long-gun registry.
In doing so, he lined up with seven other Liberals, 12 New Democrats and one Independent who helped the minority Conservative government easily pass Bill C-391.
Why?
"Hunting guns are for sports, generally, and I can't be against that," the MP for largely rural, northern riding of Madawaska-Restigouche said Thursday.
"We should review how the system works now to better reflect the reality of rural Canada.
"I'm not saying I'm in favour of the Conservatives - in no way - but I'm a big guy, I can make my own decision and this was a discussion with my people in my riding for the last five years.
"And at the end, my position was that it's possibly the best thing to remove hunting guns from the registry."
With unanimous Tory support, the bill passed by a vote of 164-137.
If it becomes law, the bill would permanently remove the requirement to register rifles and shotguns, expunge records on more than seven million firearms and plow under a $1-billion taxpayer investment.
The move would save taxpayers only $3 million or so a year because handguns and prohibited weapons will still have to be registered.
That's also one reason why Miramichi Conservative MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon has been reassured by the head of the firearms centre, which employs more than 200 people in her riding, that their jobs are safe.
O'Neill-Gordon also keeps in her Parliament Hill office a framed news clipping from the Miramichi Leader with a headline that reflects a public promise Prime Minister Stephen Harper made in Miramichi in February: "Harper promises no job losses in Miramichi."
The bill now goes to a Commons committee for study and possible amendment.
That sets the stage for another heated national argument over the best way to combat gun crime.
Conservatives say the registry is a billion-dollar waste that targets law-abiding hunters, farmers and sport-shooters while doing nothing to deter criminals.
Proponents, including police and victims-rights groups, say the registry is a useful investigative tool that has led to more responsible gun ownership and reduced gun suicides.
Ignatieff has entered the debate by recognizing this week that "the issue is to find a system of gun control that works for all Canadians - that works in rural Canada, that works in urban Canada."
He said he wants to hear from police, victims' groups and gun owners "to find a way to rebuild legitimacy for the gun registry in rural Canada.
"That's not a thing you can do overnight."
Fundy Royal Conservative MP Rob Moore says opposition to the gun registry was one of the reasons he entered politics.
The Liberals brought in the long-run registry in response to the December 1989 shooting massacre of 14 women at a Montreal college.
But they went about it in what Moore argues was a typical big-government, "left-wing" approach that was disconnected from considerations of cost or the reality of rural Canada.
"For all of us in New Brunswick, there was strong opposition right from the start," said Moore.
"This was a major undertaking by the federal government that only impacts on law-abiding citizens.
"People knew intuitively that criminals would not get in line and register their firearms, and that most firearms crimes are committed with firearms that are smuggled or stolen."
Moore said the long saga of the registry controversy should warn future governments of the folly of policy that's badly targeted.
"Sure, there's a lesson here," he said. "If you have a problem with crime, focus on criminals. Don't unduly target law-abiding people. Let them live their lives."
The controversy will likely get fresh fuel today.
The 2008 report on the registry's use is to be released.
The Canadian Press says it indicates that the RCMP constantly scour the registry for information on gun owners.
But the Conservatives sat on the document in the days leading up to the vote on the gun-registry bill.
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan says only a small fraction of the inquiries detailed in the report are directly related to the long-gun portion of the registry.
- with files from The Canadian Press
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