Cornwall ON – We all can sleep a bit better tonight as the Long Gun Registry has lived another day thanks to a squeaker of a vote today in Parliament.
Every MP showed up for the 153 – 151 vote. Sadly this issue isn’t quite dead. It’s not a Norwegian Blue. It will live to show it’s ugly head another day if The Harper government has its wicked way.
But for tonight those that truly believe in the registry, as imperfect as it may be, can feel sated that justice has prevailed and that the majority of Canadians have truly spoken.
The vote was far closer because the Jack Layton NDP had allowed an open instead of whipped vote which required much hand wringing and head locking to muscle enough votes to get the bill squished.
Good things can happen with a minority government and in this case a gross injustice to Canada was prevented. Cheers to those whose convictions won the day!
You can post your comments below Canada.
whipped government sucks.. how can these people enjoy being “whipped” into doing something? Same thing as our MP’s being gagged by the PMO.. sad days indeed when this is going on..
Good on the NDP for allowing a free vote, that’s the way it should have been as far as I am concerned..
when whipped, there is no longer democracy… last time I checked, we are still a democratic country.. what the hell is going on in government these days?
Heard on CBC’s The Current this am: Apparently Harper voted for the gun registry in the 1990s, when he received personal threats? What does that tell you about our big brave leader?
It tells me that he made a mistake 20 years ago. A mistake that he tried to correct. Unfortunately there are some MP’s that are not allowed to vote their conscience, i.e., Liberals who were whipped! Lets hope that this precipitates an election soon so that our fearless leader Stephen Harper can go out and get a majority and then scrap the damn Long Gun Registry which has cost us over a Billion dollars and has had absolutely NO EFFECT ON CRIME! It just provides a bunch of jobs to Liberal sympathizers.
Why, then, are chiefs of police across the country in favour of the registry? The idiot Consevatives want to have it both ways: tough on crime, soft on guns; support the troops, fail the veterans. As well, the same idiot Conservatives want to focus on itty-bitty wedge issues instead of what really matters: climate change, world poverty, poverty in Canada, education, health care, a fair shake for women in Canada, uniting the country instead of dividing it.
To Stan – How can you honestly say that the registry had had no effect on crime? The RCMP, the Chiefs of Police and the Police Association have all said that the registry is a good thing and they want to keep it. You are a typical Harperite who ignores the reality and who prefers to make up buzz lines that you keep repeating and repeating. The public is smarter than you think and Harper will not get his majority.
Sorry Jerry, but you are wrong. I’m not a Conservative Harperite, in fact I am a card-carrying member of the Green Party. In this country I am entitled to an opinion!
Stan, you say that there are MPs in this country who cannot vote according to their consciences. Very true. I agree 100%. Don’t forget, however, that Reform Party MPs don’t need to be whipped – everyday they receive word from the Prime Minister’s Office dictating their actions for the day, and heaven help any of them who doesn’t toe the line.
The Watcher said “Stan, you say that there are MPs in this country who cannot vote according to their consciences”..
One of those MP’s is Lauzon.. anyone here thinking he is working for his constituents is GREATLY MISINFORMED!
The liberal bias of this article is incredible. The gun registry has done nothing to solve a crime or prevent one, but has wasted 2 Billion$ of tax payer money. Every night in Toronto someone gets shot by a cowardly jasckass. His gun isn’t registered. What are police doing about those shootings? The gun registry does nothing for these crimes, they are all committed with hand guns. All the registry does is criminalize law abiding citizens by placing an inordinate number of laws and regulations in their way. People who are for the gun registry do not understand it and have not learned to think beyond what liberal news rags like this one tell them.
To the writer of this article, how is it that you will ‘sleep better’ tonight? Because the guy who owns a shotgun for hunting must continue to be treated like a criminal? It isn’t these guys committing the crimes and doing home invasions. You are a misguided tool.
You know, in Vermont and other states that don’t require a license for concealed handguns, you don’t know who has a gun on their person or purse and who doesn’t. There is almost no street crime. There are almost no break ins. Responsible people who own hand guns prevent irresponsible people from using hand guns. What kind of government disarms the people?