A private member’s bill that would abolish the long gun registry is in jeopardy.
Last week, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff announced his party wants to retain the registry with changes aimed at making it less onerous for gun owners.
He said the eight rural Liberals who voted for bill C-391 Nov. 4, 2009, when it was approved in principle with a 27 vote margin of victory, will now be expected to vote against the bill.
NDP leader Jack Layton, who saw 12 of his mainly rural MPs support the bill, also said his party will try to amend the legislation at committee to keep the registry but with changes.
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“There are procedures which allow the majority on a committee to quite fundamentally transform a piece of legislation, and that’s what we’d like to explore with other parties,” Layton told reporters April 21.
The House of Commons public safety and national security committee is expected to begin hearings on the bill May 13. Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs hold the majority on the committee and opponents of the bill outnumber supporters.
That raises the possibility that when hearings end in early June and a bill is sent back to the House of Commons for a final debate and vote, it will be substantially changed from the bill originally approved by the Commons.
Southern Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner, the bill’s sponsor, is urging voters in rural Liberal ridings where members are now being ordered to vote against the bill to demand their MPs stand by their Nov. 4 principles.
However, when the House next votes, the focus will be on the rural NDP MPs who broke with their party position to oppose the registry. Their 12 votes could still mean the bill passes.
Unlike Ignatieff, Layton has said he will follow parliamentary tradition and make the vote on a private member’s bill a free vote.
Ignatieff told a Canadian Police Association meeting April 19 that he recognizes police support for maintaining the registry while also recognizing it has been an irritant for rural Canadians.
He said a Liberal government would treat first-time failure to register a long gun as a “simple non-criminal ticketing offence instead of a criminal offence as they are currently.”
He said fees for new licences, renewals and upgrades would be eliminated and the registration process made simpler.
“Canadians want gun control that works and that treats owners fairly,” the Liberal leader said.
Conservative MPs quickly jumped on Ignatieff’s decision to force all MPs to support continuation of the registry. In the Commons, prime minister Stephen Harper cited an earlier quote from the Liberal leader: “No sensible Canadian thinks the problem is the shotgun on the barn door. No sensible Canadian thinks the problem is the target shooter or the legitimate licensed gun owner.”
Harper said Ignatieff is now reversing himself.
“I liked him when he was a sensible Canadian.”
Liberal Wayne Easter, one of the eight who voted to end the registry, said he will support the Ignatieff compromise and expects the other seven Liberals to do the same.
However, he said he expects a fierce advertising and political campaign in his riding from the Conservatives, trying to convince voters to punish him if he changes his mind.
