Rally to Scrap the Long-Gun Registry

Prior to attending a Labour Day rally in support of Candice Hoeppner’s private member's Bill to scrap the controversial long-gun registry (Bill C-391), I thought I would write about my reasons for attending. I am normally not someone that attends political rallies. However, I feel this is a crucial time to get involved in some way because of the actions of the Liberal Opposition to defeat this Bill and retain the costly and ineffective long-gun registry.

On September 22, there will be a crucial vote in the House of Commons on Private Members’ Bill C-391. This vote is in response to a motion raised by the Opposition-dominated Public Safety Committee that recommended the House of Commons should not proceed further with Bill C-391. What I find particularly distasteful is that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has decided to whip Liberal MPs in this vote to effectively defeat the Bill, even though 8 of his Liberal MPs voted in favour of Bill C-391 at second reading. In the past, these 8 Liberal MPs voted to scrap the long-gun registry because it made sense and it is what their constituents wanted. They put common sense and the will of their constituents before partisan party politics. However, now the Liberal leader has decided to prevent MPs from properly representing their constituents by forcing them to vote along party lines.

I believe that democracy should come before Parliamentary discipline. These MPs will either answer to their leader after the September 22 vote, or to their constituents later at the next election.