It doesn’t take much effort or imagination to criticize or poke fun at the Reform Party of Canada. In its short lifespan, its MPs have already built up an impressive list of examples of foot-in-mouth disease.
But that just makes it all the more reprehensible for federal Liberals to play gutter politics on the gun-control issue. As the Globe and Mail recently revealed, the prime minister’s office distributed a memo across the country suggesting Liberals spread accusations that Reform is controlled by the gun lobby and under the spell of “the American extreme right.”
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This recalls the cynical and self-serving action of Justice Minister Allan Rock after the Oklahoma City bombing, when he said his new gun-control regulations would help prevent such terrorism by extremist right-wing groups. No matter that the Oklahoma bomb was apparently made of oil and fertilizer, or that assault weapons have always been severely restricted in Canada; the Liberals saw a chance to score media points.
Understandably, Reform MPs were outraged at the latest Liberal attempt to link them to the U.S. extreme right. In the House of Commons, Deborah Grey accused Liberals of conducting “a dirty, American-style smear campaign full of distortions and misrepresentations.” Terms like “bold-faced lie” and “sleazebag” were thrown at prime minister Jean ChrŽtien, who condescendingly replied:
“Reformers should learn one thing: In politics it is better to have a thick skin or they will not go very far.”
The Reform MPs at least had a platform in the Commons to defend themselves that day. The same opportunity was not available for the many thousands of rural Western Canadians who oppose the new gun-control laws and whose beliefs are being reflected by the Reform Party.
Rifles are not only a tradition but a tool on many farms and ranches. Isolated ranches that could attract either animal or human predators cannot dial 911 and expect help in four minutes. To subject farm rifles to the same oppressive and costly regulation as handguns in cities is blatantly unfair.
Yet the underlying message of the Liberal whispering campaign is that those who oppose tougher gun controls are somehow like the fanatic U.S. “militia” groups who grab headlines.
It would be too much to hope for an apology. But the least Prime Minister ChrŽtien can do is immediately tell his officials to halt the smear campaign. And he should publicly state that the many Westerners who oppose his new gun controls are in no way comparable to U.S. “militia” or other fanatics.
