Malcolm Allen becomes the fourth NDP MP to get on the right side (buckle up, this is a long one)
As I’ve noted in one or two previous posts on the subject, the number of NDP MPs who have pledged to vote against Bill C-391 next week, out of the twelve who supported it during its second reading in November, has risen to four.
Echoing the concerns of his predecessors, Welland MP Malcolm Allen has declared his intentions to vote against the bill despite pressure from the Conservatives, whose tactics he cites as the reason he chose not to support the bill.
Mr. Allen was careful to note, however, that going against the Conservatives isn’t a matter of going against his constituents. “The majority [of people in his riding],” Allen asserted, “have said ‘we think at this point we should keep it and we want you to go work on it.’”
In the wake of Welland’s announcement, I’ve argued that this vote is about more than the gun registry. The Harper government’s handling of this bill is what made the gun registry such a hot button issue, and more and more Canadians are recognizing it as part of a pattern of corrupt, anti-democratic governance. Next week’s vote, in a very real sense, has become a de facto referendum on these tactics.
“NDP MPs say the Conservatives have had since 2006 to bring in a law to keep its promise to kill the registry,” the Toronto Star notes, “but say it has been more useful for the government to use it as a wedge issue.”
“We do not want to be standing besides these guys at the end of the day because they do not represent anything progressive for Canada,” the MP for Timmins-James Bay Charlie Angus said. “And they certainly don’t represent rural Canadians.” Mr. Angus was the first of the twelve NDPs to abandon his support for the bill.
The good news is that Mr. Allen’s decision could be the deciding factor in what’s expected to be an extremely close vote. Indeed, party leader Jack Layton has announced that the NDP now has enough votes to save the gun registry. And although his critics could easily argue that this is the pronouncement he’s been waiting to make in the wake of the criticism he’s drawn for choosing not to whip his party on the vote, it’s got to be said that Allen’s decision is indeed a turning point.
I mean, if I can be a nerd for a second, this really is a significant moment in Canadian political history. And if I can take a step further and channel the younger, greener version of myself who jumped on board with Layton’s campaign for party leadership all those years ago, I’d even go so far as to say that it might be one of those moments that encourages people all over the country to drop their apathy and get to work on making a real difference.
But despite the fact that the tide has turned significantly in just a few short days, and the fact that there’s another promising week left to go before the final vote, and the fact that Jack is “feeling very optimistic” about the outcome, it’s too soon and too close to play it safe. We need to keep the momentum going, and one of the most vital ways in which you can do so is to take a moment to contact the following eight NDP MPs and urge them to vote against the bill.
Niki Ashton (Churchill)
866-785-0522 / 613-992-3018
Ashton.N@parl.gc.ca
Dennis Bevington (Western Arctic)
867-873-6995 / 613-992-4587
BevinD@parl.gc.ca
Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley)
250-877-4140 / 613-993-6654
Cullen.N@parl.gc.ca
Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing)
705-848-8080 / 613-996-5376
Hughes.C@parl.gc.ca
Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay-Superior North)
807-345-1818 / 613-996-4792
Hyer.B@parl.gc.ca
Jim Maloway (Elmwood-Transcona)
204-984-2499 / 613-995-6339
Maloway.J@parl.gc.ca
John Rafferty (Thunder Bay-Rainy River)
807-623-6000 / 613-992-3061
Rafferty.J@parl.gc.ca
Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore)
902-861-2311 / 613-995-5822
StoffP@parl.gc.ca
According to this report from the CBC, Ms. Ashton and Ms. Hughes are on the fence. Could they be among the next to get on the right side? Your support and encouragement could make a major difference.
And just so there’s no confusion, the opposition isn’t against the idea of improving the gun registry. Indeed, as the CBC notes, “Layton has said his party will introduce legislation when Parliament resumes next week to make a first-time failure to register a firearm a non-criminal ticketing offence and to waive fees for new licences.”
Bill C-391 is a bill to repeal the long gun registry altogether. It’s a call to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s designed to exclude reasonable alternatives, which is what Harper’s Conservatives have been getting away with for far too long – and they’re going to have to work a whole lot harder to get away with it if this bill rightly gets shut down.
If you believe there’s any room to improve the long gun registry, then it’s your right and your duty to oppose this bill – and then to hold the MPs who vote against it accountable to their promises of reform.
Posted in Save the Gun Registry
Let’s all really hope that in efforts to defeat the bill and please the party leader, support for the conservatives doesn’t grow.
If they get a majority, horror of horrors, it would mean an awful less debate about the topic, not that there’s been too much of that that’s been terribly rational. No differentiation between Long guns and restricted firearms registry, parading of victims of gun crime who the Registry failed to protect, lies about statistics, “support” statements from hand-picked groups, and so on.
Just read something on the CGC’s websites mentioning that funding for screening got cut. There’s a real easy place to redirect the $4million, 10 Million, 100Million Dollars ( whatever the actual number is) that the registry costs to actually have some meaningful impact in keeping guns from the people who ought not to have them, as opposed to an inert data file of people who do.
I like Jack’s approach of wanting to find workable alternatives, while I don’t trust him, given his history with the issue, I think it’s definitely the way to go.
Well said, Sean. It would indeed be terrible to see a Conservative majority, particular with this leadership at the helm. Thanks as well for the tip on the CGC piece; I’ll have to look it up.