Hated registry's end is nigh

August 23, 2010

Candice Hoeppner has a big cheering section in Alberta.

The Manitoba Conservative MP has spent the summer crisscrossing the country, shoring up support for her private member’s bill which, if passed by Parliament this fall, will finally see the end of the federal long-gun registry.

It’s telling that Hoeppner has spent little, if any of the summer here in Alberta.

She knows that nowhere in Canada is hatred stronger for the registry, and no Alberta MP (the only question mark being the NDP’s Linda Duncan, the only non-Tory in the province) would risk their constituents’ wrath by voting to keep it alive.

Hoeppner’s bill passed second reading with the support of eight Liberal and 12 New Democrat MPs.

But with third reading expected in late September, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has said he will “whip” his MPs — in other words, force them to vote along the party line, which insists that the registry is a good thing for Canada.

The fact that in its decade and a half of existence, the registry has cost taxpayers more than $1 billion and not done a thing to improve public safety isn’t the point in Ignatieff’s eyes.

As far as he’s concerned, this fight is about doing the opposite of the Harper Tories, whether or not that position makes any sense.

Meanwhile, the New Democrats have indicated that they will allow their MPs to vote with their consciences on the proposal to scrap the registry, giving Hoeppner hope that she will succeed.

Make no mistake, this might be a private member’s bill, but it has the full support of the Conservative party.

Prime Minster Stephen Harper has made no secret of his desire to see the wasteful, ineffective registry — a legacy of Liberal hubris — mothballed for good.
In fact, Harper has already announced that when the registry centre — located in Miramichi, N.B. — is shut down, he’ll replace those lost federal jobs with a centralized government payroll centre in the community.

The plan is a double whammy for taxpayers. Shutting down the costly registry would save the public purse millions every year.
Meanwhile, updating and centralizing the federal bureaucrats’ payroll system would save another $80 million.

So while Harper lays the groundwork, Hoeppner is reportedly targeting NDP country, trying to ensure that voters in New Democrat ridings understand what is at stake and urging them to let their MPs know that they want them to vote for her bill.

No doubt, pro-registry forces within the NDP and the Liberal parties are also putting tremendous pressure on the New Democrat MPs who voted in favour of Hoeppner’s bill last time to change their minds.

Here’s hoping they, um, stick to their guns and support her again.

For once, we might actually see democracy — and common sense — at work in Ottawa.
Source:  Edmonton Sun