Harper could’ve shot himself in the foot…

Excuse me Harper could’ve, might’ve shot himself  in the foot ?

Look I am not fond of the guy myself ,but one thing he did not do was shoot himself in the foot.

The only one’s who shot themselves in the foot were the NDP & the six MP’s who reversed themselves & voted in favor of the LG registry.

And of course the Liberal Party…

Although this is hardly new or news, waffling, seemingly being standard Liberal operating procedure these days. Indeed under Ignatieff’s leadership waffling, the Liberals have become particularly adept at shooting themselves in the foot.

But the NDP …!  Their handling of  the LG registry – despite starting off  on a solid footing- ended up being a total head-scratcher .

The NDP  have all but handed the Conservatives a cudgel  with which to beat them over the head with. If that was not enough the Conservatives also have a very affective issue with which to raise funds/top up their war chest.

No other issue in recent memory has had the staying power & or ability to animate voters quite like the LG registry,15 years and counting . Why would any MP/Party want to risk being on the wrong side, antagonizing  supporters & or potential supporters ?

Particularly those representing rural-ridings. Like the six NDP-MP’s  & the 8 Liberals MP’s , who  thumbed their noses at their own & rural constituents in general.

Why the NDP did what they did,that is applying pressure on their MP’s to change their vote in order to save a registry they themselves, & the Party as a whole, admit is flawed makes absolutely  no sense.

Not only did the NDP lose an opportunity to differentiate themselves, yet again, from the Liberals. They have in all likelihood used up a big chunk of that hard earned credibility, built up under Jack Layton’s near flawless leadership to-date.

Personally I believe the NDP’s handling of this hot-button issue ,which many voters will see as waffling , will come back to haunt them,come next election.

Particularly if MP’s ,for example Charlie Angus, keep shooting off their mouths with stupid statements like the following…

“People send me to do a job, and part of that job is reflecting on the evidence and so it would certainly be very easy for me to ride the wave of popularity and say ‘Whatever you guys want ill give it to you’, to you know beat the drum, but that’s not how I do politics”.

Damn ! now ya gonna spin your  flip-flop as not being a flip-flop. Shit, why don’t you just spit in your constituents faces ?

On a side note;

One does not have to understand why the LG registry is such a hot-button issue with so many Canadians. Indeed one might even laugh at the seeming absurdity of it all given the existence of much more important or urgent problems in these economically  troubled times, but none-the-less it is what it is.

It wouldn’t be the first time that a seemingly minor issue came out of no where & changed the political fortunes of individual politicians, indeed of whole Party’s virtually over night. Is the LG registry one of those issues perhaps, perhaps not. But given its longevity and the passions it invokes politicians would be wise not to underestimate or play fast and lose with the facts & or their constituents.

And then there were two…

Of the initial 12 NDP-MP’s who were opposed to the long-gun registry. Ten have since tucked their tails between their legs & caved . Leaving only Bruce Hyer,Thunder Bay-North Superior & John Rafferty representing Thunder Bay-Rainy River.

From Peter Stoffer Mp for Sackville-Eastern Shore,we get the same kind of tripe  that Charlie Angus foisted on his constituents. Although unlike Charlie who supposedly had the greater good in mind,Peter supposedly has his constituents in mind.

“At the end of the day, I have to represent my constituents. I have to give careful consideration to both sides, even though my long-held views are very well known and very public,” he said in Fall River, Nova Scotia.

But as one of his constituents points out…

“If this is so then how did he get elected the last three times when people knew that he wanted to abolish the registry,” he said…@

As I have often stated, this registry sure does bring out the stupid in a lot of people.

One does have to wonder though, if all those registry supporters would accept a  similar intrusion  into their lives & privacy as that which is forced on law-abiding gun owners by this registry. To add insult to injury, a registry, that all sides agree is badly flawed.

What’s good for rifle owners should be good for all Canadians, says a Red Deer auctioneer who is a long-time opponent of the gun registry.

Bud Haynes claims the gun registry is an invasion of privacy and that information on the forms is used to pry into gun owners lives, a point contested by Red Deer police superintendent Brian Simpson.

Questions include such details as whether or the applicants have been fired or passed over for promotion, whether they have an unstable emotional history or whether they’ve had trouble with alcohol, he said.

If keeping track of a rifle or shotgun owner’s fingerprints and personal information makes the country safer, then all law-abiding Canadians should be equally happy to submit the same information, Haynes told The Advocate.

On Sept. 22, federal Members of Parliament are slated to give third and final reading to Bill C-391, a private member’s bill that would to strike down Canada’s controversial long-gun registry.

People need to know what’s at stake if the long-gun registry is maintained, said Haynes.

Canadian statistics indicate that police officers entering homes or stopping vehicles in traffic use information from the long-gun registry about 5,000 times every day.

That’s 5,000 times per day that, somewhere in the country, a police officer is using the provisions of the registry to dig into a gun owner’s private business, said Haynes.

In most cases, the inquiries have nothing to do with firearms, and are used instead to provide police with access to a person’s personal information as well as the right to inspect their vehicles or search their homes, he said.

Personally this  creeping insidious paternalism and monitoring scares the hell out of me.  It reeks of that – “if you  have nothing to hide ,or have done nothing illegal you have nothing to worry about” -attitude.

Read more ‘License to Pry.’..

UPDATE/CORRECTION

Seems I have been wrong on my numbers,there are in fact  5 (possibly 6)  NDP-MP’s -of the original 12- still committed to killing off the LG-registry.

Bruce Hyer  Thunder Bay-North Superior NW Ont

John Rafferty  Thunder Bay-Rainy River NW Ont

Nathan Cullen  Skeena-Buckley Valley B.C

Dennis Bevington  Western Arctic NT

Jim Malloway  Elmwood-Transcona MB

That said this does nothing to change my mind,the  NDP dropped the ball period. Rather than letting this ill thought-out & flawed registry die they have chosen to  play political games-trying to have ones cake and eat it to comes to mind. Indeed they have lost their nerve & have forgotten, that right or wrong , voters appreciate principles above all else.

There’s all ready a Liberal Party the last thing needed is another.

On a side note its comforting to know that the people-& their representatives- of Thunder Bay and Prince Rupert have not succumbed to all the nonsense surrounding this ridiculous registry. Being former neighbors & friends and all,(I grew up in Thunder Bay and lived in Rupert for a number of years -my folks are still up in Rupert & have been since 1977)

NDP-MP Charlie Angus Listens to his “guts”rather than his constituents

As I said in my previous post listening to Charlie Angus blather on about his support for the long-gun registry is painful indeed,me being a NDP supporter and all-after Sept 22 who knows.

“At the end of the day, I have to vote based on what I feel in my gut

Yawn,because really what do the locals “know” anyway.

and on what I feel is the best decision for the region and the country,” Angus told The Daily Press

Excuse me, what’s best for the region ? for the country?  What the hell,we’re talking about a deeply flawed  registry of dubious worth here Charlie.  Hardly a tough decision… like please !

“Yeah, there will be backlash. I’ve got to live with that. But I feel it’s the right thing to do.”…@

Gee what “principles”, damn your constituents  full steam ahead.

Considering how important rural riding’s were for the NDP in the last election,&still are,I find statements such as the above very strange…Angus -& the NDP- are going to risk it all over  this ridiculous registry.

Indeed a deeply flawed registry that most Canadians do not even support,particularly rural voters.

Remember those voters Charlie ,apparently not.

Perhaps Angus has future considerations in-mind,perhaps he has dreams of running for party leader. Because nothing else he’s saying or doing makes any sense

UPDATE

First there were 12 now there are only 3

he Ontario Federation of Anglers are expressing frustration over Northern Ontario NDP MPs who have declared that they will vote to keep the federal long gun registry. With the notable exception of MPs Peter Stoffer, John Rafferty and Bruce Hyer, NDP members who previously supported Bill C-391 and scrapping the long gun registry, will ignore the views of their constituents, the outdoor community, hunters, farmers, recreational and Olympic shooters , and back a Liberal motion to kill the bill…@

Well that’s enough for me , come Monday I will be contacting the NDP and canceling my membership and monthly contribution. My voting days are over.

Peas of a pod  them Conservatives & Liberals and now sadly the NDP.

And besides after everything I have written on this blog regarding  principles and or lack of ,how can I in good conscious,  continue to support the NDP . Who would take me seriously anymore, indeed I might be mistaken for a Liberal.

What the heck is MP Charlie Angus,& the NDP for that matter,talking about ?

From where I am sitting, it sounds like a whole lotta political pablum…

“I was flabbergasted to learn that the Tories are now using conspiracy theories to attack the integrity of our front line police officers,” said Angus. “When the Chief of Police in Timmins calls me to tell me that the registry is useful to his officers, as the MP I have to take that into account. I can’t stand by while Mr. Breitkreuz tries to smear their reputation for political gain.”

Being a supporter of the NDP ,I find it a painful indeed, listening to Charlie Angus’s contorted reasoning’s for reversing his stand on the registry

“The Conservatives have taken our votes for granted. … They have not addressed our rural concerns,” Mr. Angus said. “They’ve attacked the credibility of our front-line police officers. Now in these last desperate days they have taken to their attack billboards and their radio ads in trying to intimidate MPs into voting for them.”

Mr. Angus said he rejected Mr. Harper’s “division tactics.”

So…? supporting Bill C-391 somehow implies one’s support for Mr. Breitkreuz statements or somehow implies like mindedness ,like wtf ?

Geez.. give voters more credit will ya,believe it or not they are capable of connecting the dots.

“The Conservatives have taken our votes for granted. …

Excuse me ?  The NDP does make it’s own  policy decisions,no ?

As the vote on Bill C-391 draws nears  4 more NDP-MP’s -of the original 12 ‘dissenters’-seem set to  join Angus . Why…

The NDP also laid out more of its plan for new compromise legislation on registry. It includes asking the Auditor-General to ensure the system is running efficiently, addressing mental health issues around gun ownership and dealing with issues concerning inherited firearms…@

Silly me,but this isn’t what’s  being voting on. It’s a simple yea or nay vote on whether to save or kill off the registry, period !

There’s not going to be any compromise  included, never mind voted on. The gun-registry will continue on as is warts and all.

The same deeply flawed  registry which turns  law-abiding citizen into criminals,a fact even the Liberals have had to admit. Indeed the same nonsense & flaws that initial saw 8 Liberals ,Charlie Angus and 11 other NDP-MP’s -last November- vote to kill off the registry.

So I say again what  has changed since then?  The Liberal waffling is understandable-that’s what Liberal do- but the NDP ?  Further more who cares what Breitkreuz had to say,his constituents will hold him to account if they feel that he was  out of line ?

One other thing Charlie, just because the police say it is so, does not make it so. The police chiefs and police associations do play politics at times. They are not innocent little angel’s being unjustly victimized or smeared, indeed they can do smear just as well as anyone.

In fact  maybe you should be asking yourself one of the same question put forth by Breitkreuz…

“Why are the police chiefs so strident in their quest to keep the registry in place?

Because everything they have said to-date just doesn’t  ring true.  Canadians seem to concur-according to polls the majority do not support the long-gun registry.

So why do you (now), why does the NDP ?

O, right…some conservative-god forbid-disrespected & doubted the police narrative. Yeah right,dang at least refrain from  insulting peoples intelligence even further.

Damn what is it about this registry that drives so many people batty ?

A gun-toting gun registry skeptic recants….

I had to chuckle when I read Thomas Walkom’s latest piece  -A gun-toting gun registry skeptic recants-  in the Toronto Star.

Apparently the RCMP’s report on the registry has convinced Walkom that his skepticism’s were in fact wrong. The fact that the unbiased-just-the-facts-report brings nothing new to the table seems to have eluded Walkom.

So what revelations,yawn, have convinced Walkom of his apparent apostasy…

it points out that the vast majority of firearm-related deaths in Canada are the result of rifles and shotguns — not handguns.

Which,still, begs the question- exactly how will,or could have, the registry prevent such deaths,lol ?

And of those deaths 2/3 were due to suicide and accidental discharge.

Suggesting to me that in fact the police & others are playing political & emotional games. Particularly when they go on & on about crime,public safety,gangs  etc as the rational for a long-gun registry.

Seems to me , judging from the statistics, what’s needed- is more education  around gun-safety  and funding etc for suicide awareness &  prevention programs,crisis lines & the likes…[seeing that guns owners & or potential owner must already apply for a FAAC &  take a gun handling course  before they can buy a gun wouldn't it be easier & cheaper to just step up the safety component ]

The very things that are the first to be neglected & cut, just saying…

Indeed how can Thomas Walkom expect readers to take him seriously when he not only makes absurd claims but also signs off on em ?

Second, the gun reforms have worked. In 1996, before these reforms were instituted, 63 people were murdered with long guns in rural areas. By 2005, the number had dropped to 50.

Well-shuckes that settles it then…lol

With such a low standards  as to what constitutes proof,  I guess its understandable how Walkom came to be re-enlightened.

Perhaps I am being to harsh,maybe it was a slow news day and Thomas had to come up with something quickly, to meet his daily/weekly content quota.

Someone should remind Thomas Walkom that the same police also state ,and without blushing, that Tazers save lives. And don’t get them started on the horrors surrounding  those who partake of the demon-herb,marijuana.

Anyway time for my nap.

On a side note;

Perhaps there should be a  bath-tubs registry,after all like guns bath-tubs kill …

Forty-one were killed by accidents in bathtubs.

Long guns and tall tales

With the second reading of Bill C-391 ,which will hopefully result in the demise of the long-gun registry, fast approaching (Sept.22) the output of op-eds for and against the registry have reached a fevered pitch.

And alas the silly arguments supporting the  registry have not lost any of their silliness since I first wrote about this issue -Dumb & Dumber.

Although  some things have changed like the position of Liberal “leader”Micheal Ignatieff , who stated, that this time around he will whip his M.P’s. Lest some Liberals break ranks -a second time-and vote their conscious, with  logic & their constituents in mind.

Now silly me, where Iggy see’s leadership I see a mistake that sends all the wrong messages.

Like really the guy has to make his point by whipping his own M.P’s ?  Uhmmm…what does  that say about Ignatieff & the Liberal Party ,weakness,a lack of respect for Liberal constituents , perhaps the lack of a real argument ,i.e why is  a long-gun registry so necessary ? Exactly how will the registry,in actuality, prevent bad things from happening ?

Indeed if Micheal Ignatieff can’t even convince members of his own party of the necessity for a long-gun registry,what chance has he of convincing the electorate of his leadership abilities. After all the guy does want to be the next Prime Minister.

Any way one slices it the long-gun registry is a waste of tax payers hard earned monies  and is, but one more intrusion of the state into the lives of it’s citizens. Law abiding ones at that.

On this one issue I  find myself pretty much in agreement with the CSSA and Conservative MP   Garry Breitkreuz Yorkton-Melville. SK- …

The registry isn’t about reducing crime.It’s about public control

Enough already !

Here’s hoping  Jack Layton continues to do the right thing by not whipping the NDP vote.  The sooner this registry & the hysteria-fest surrounding it is put to ground, the sooner MP’s can get back to  addressing  issues of consequence- unemployment,health care,education ,etc…

Dumb & dumber

The “debate” on the long-gun registry  just gets dumber by the day

In fact if the long-gun registry  gets axed people will be dropping before their time. No seriously…

The head of Canada’s association of police chiefs says repealing the long-gun registry would harm police officers’ work and “could get them killed.”

Sure what ever you say, don’t the police also say… that tazers save lives ?

Thankful at least one police chief in Canada has managed to keep things in perspective…

Rick Hanson, Calgary’s police chief, told CTV on Monday that “the gun registry has done little to make the streets safer.”He said officers use the registry as an investigative tool, and it doesn’t work when dealing with gangs and drug dealers.

“The guns these people have, they don’t register, they don’t care, they’re probably stolen, they’re probably obtained illegally, in many cases they’re prohibited,” Hanson told CTV…@

Next we hear from the doctors,and what words of wisdom they are…

“Keeping guns away from depressed people is essential.”

And the long-gun registry does this how ?  What about knives,tall buildings,bridges & prescription drugs …just saying ?

But to be fair the doctors do get one thing right,indeed it puts the whole issue of guns into perspective. That is when it comes to guns, crime should be the least of our  worries…

The majority of firearm deaths in Canada are suicides…@

Hummm so why not spend the monies, now being wasted on the registry, on crisis-lines etc… just a thought ? Maybe we could force the depressed to register then we could extrapolate that data with your data ….aaaaww forget it you know what I mean.

And so it goes…

The art of double-speak; Liberals & the Gun Registry

One has to wonder why the Liberals continue  to flog the   long-gun registry.

A few days ago  they announced that  from now on, all Liberal MP’s will be “whipped”  to vote against a  Conservative MP’s private member’s bill that would see the long-gun registry consigned to the rubbish bin.

Last November, Ignatieff decided not to “whip” a vote on a Conservative MP’s private member’s bill to scrap the long-gun registry. As a result, eight Liberal MPs (along with a dozen dissident New Democrats) voted with Conservatives to give second reading to the bill. The vote was a betrayal of principle by the Liberals, who set up the gun registry when they were in office in 1990s (in the wake of the Montreal massacre, where the killer’s weapon was a long gun).

Now, however, Ignatieff says he will require all Liberal MPs to vote against the bill when it comes back to the Commons for third reading, probably in June…@

As part of  their new strategy, aimed at building support for the long-gun registry,the Liberals have fired off an e-mail to supporters asking for donations in order to fund an ad-campaign .

A few things jump out …

First …

Police across the country tell us that they rely on the gun registry. I believe them. Law abiding gun owners tell us the gun registry has problems in its current form and I believe them too. [...]

Basically the Liberals are admitting that there are/were problems with the long-gun registry(a Liberal baby). Which  suggest that the critics of the registry were  generally speaking on the mark,indeed were not just a bunch of right-wing,pro-gun nut-bars and or mere partisan Conservatives as they were often portrayed ,that’s not saying that some were not all that & or  more.

So in fact the out cry -in general- that led to a second reading was not only valid but has led to the Liberal’s  admitting as much ,albeit not intentionally or due to any self held principle or virtue,e.g the ability to admit error. Notice,in the above quote, how Iggy gets around saying that he/the Liberals “might” have been wrong about the gun-registry as it was then proposed.

In hindsight perhaps detractors & critics should be thanking Micheal Ignatieff  for not “whipping” the vote back in November 09.      indeed at least 8 of the 77  Liberal MP’s had the stones to vote their conscious.

The e-mail then goes on…

That’s why it’s critical that we respond with a targeted ad campaign of our own. Canadians need accurate information about the changes we’ve proposed [...]

Here’s the rub if you miss it, immediately after stating that Canadians need accurate information the e-mail then goes on to use inaccurate information…

The attacks began as Conservative spokesman and Saskatchewan MP Gerry Breitkreuz compared Canada’s police chiefs to “members of a cult” who “should be ashamed of themselves” for defending the gun registry – a tool police officers use over 11,000 times each day in their work protecting public safety [...]

In fact the police do not use the tool 11,000 a days …

Chief Armand LaBarge, president of the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs, stated that police officers across the country search the registry about 18 times per day. (Instead of the misled 9,400 a day where any personal information search is count as a hit) However, most of those 5,000 queries are generated automatically when other queries are submitted to the CPIC system such as during routine traffic stops…@

Ummm,a billion +(that could have been spent on worthwhile programs e.g poverty ,unemployment & health issues) to provide police with a data-base that they might use a dozen or so times a day,well that “settles” it then,lol.

This suggest ,and the fact just because the police say so does not mean it is so, that the long-gun registry serves no definable purpose and it’s cost,  a billion+ and counting,can not be justified no matter how one sees this issue. This should not come as any huge surprise after all the proposal was a purely emotional and political reaction to the tragedy in Montreal (Dec 1989) which saw  a mentally deranged Marc Lepine gun down 14 women using a rifle/unrestricted firearm.

Surely nobody is seriously suggesting, or would ,that somehow a long-gun registry would have prevented Marc Lepine from doing what he did ?

Some times you have to know when to fold and when to hold.

A lesson that Liberals seem intent on ignoring in their misguided zeal to milk this “issue” for what ever its worth. Seeing as there are no definable need or provable rationale  for the existence of a  long-gun registry,particularly one that costs taxpayers  hundreds upon hundreds of millions ,the reasons for Liberal actions can only be political ones,omg you don’t say.

All said one still has to wonder why the Liberals are so intent on  saving the registry,given it’s cost and dubious worth.

The best thing to do would be to allow (as back in November) individual MP’s to vote their conscious and put this “issue” to bed rather than dragging it on & on. Given the very real possibility inevitability that Liberal actions will  provide the  Conservatives with yet more opportunities to point out Liberal inconsistencies and back peddling.

The Conservatives will come out unscathed no matter what happens to the Bill not so the Liberals.

This is not the “issue” that’s going to rebuild Liberal electoral  fortunes.Which begs the question why are they hanging so much of their political credibility on this non-issue.

There’s a time to hold and there’s a time to fold-Poker 101.

Read Liberal Party e-mail in full here

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