Forget all those nice Liberal words you heard about consultation, consensus, and concern for rural residents. Jean ChrŽtien sent a clear message last week that he doesn’t really care about any of them.
Despite an outpouring of concern from rural areas, the Liberal government ruthlessly pushed its proposed gun-control laws through another stage of the parliamentary process.
Although many Liberal MPs from rural areas are known to have misgivings about the bill, tight party discipline kept almost all of them in line.
There were three exceptions, Liberals from rural Ontario who voted against the proposed law: Rex Crawford, Benoit SerrŽ, and Paul Steckle.
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In a cynical and blatant exercise of revenge, the Liberal hierarchy almost immediately removed all three from the parliamentary committees of which they were members.
SerrŽ’s reaction was pointed: “When I was elected in the fall of 1993, I told the people of Timiskaming-French River that I would represent them first and foremost. I kept my promise and hoped that my government would have kept its Red Book promise in making the Liberal government more open and permitting MPs to be more accountable to their constituents.”
The Liberals’ ruthless handling of dissent in this case raises serious concerns about what they could do in other cases.
If friendly Bill Clinton, or some large corporate donor, persuades ChrŽtien one day that the wheat board should be abolished, can we expect that to happen with equal disdain for rural views?
And, the next time a Liberal steamroller runs over rural interests, can we again expect the West’s Liberal MPs to act like trained seals?
By contrast with the harsh Liberal party discipline, Calgary Reform MP Stephen Harper faces no reprisals for going contrary to his party and supporting gun controls on the grounds that his constituents support them.
The Liberals, however, still have a chance to mitigate the self-inflicted damage to their political credibility. The gun-control bill now goes for detailed study, and possible amendment, by a Commons committee.
If rural people and others opposed to the new controls can increase the pressure on MPs of all parties, there is still time for common-sense amendments that would remove the extremist aspects of the proposed new law and provide appropriate exemptions for responsible gun-owners in rural areas.
But it will take pressure and effort, in the form of phone calls, letters, questions at public meetings, etc., to persuade the Liberals to change. They have already shown their contempt for rural concerns about gun laws.
