MONTREAL – Liberal delegates refused to touch the issue of gun control at their policy convention Friday, voting down a measure to reduce the number of firearms on Canadian streets.
The rejection highlights a desire by supporters to break away from a controversial issue that has divided Liberals in the past in favor of the unity politics leader Justin Trudeau advanced during his opening speech here Thursday.
A passionate majority of delegates voted down a Young Liberals resolution seeking to create a policy aimed at “reducing the number of firearms in Canada through initiatives inspired by the Australian model.”
The resolution was one of four that earned debate.
Wayne Easter, a Liberal MP from Prince Edward Island, was first to stand in against the measure.
“This resolution is not well thought out,” he said to a crowd of about 100. “We need the support of rural Canada.”
“It will open the Liberal Party up for attack.”
Plus, he asked rhetorically, what is the Australian model?
Easter’s comments resonate with Liberal gun owners, many in rural Canada, who don’t believe the party should meddle in the topic. Trudeau himself seems to be unsure of his position on guns, telling reporters in 2012 that he didn’t support the shelved long gun registry – but only because it was a failed policy.
Roger Buxton, a farmer from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, who spoke loudly against reduction of guns, said on the sidelines of the meeting that the policy would be “impossible to campaign on in Alberta.”
Pulling out his firearm training license, he told a reporter he supported the safe use of guns – not their gradual prohibition from society. And, he said, he wasn’t the only one.
People “need to know that The Liberal Party is no longer in favor of getting rid of guns,” he said.
Some Liberals, however, debated in favor of the resolution. One of the people was a criminal defense attorney who argued the resolution was aimed at urban gangs.
Another was Liberal Health Critic Hedy Fry, who said she supported the move because guns kill people.
She also urged the room not to read too broadly into the resolution, saying that its goal was to facilitate registration.
“It’s not whether people have a right to hunt, it’s just registration,” Fry said. “Use guns in an appropriate manner.”
Whether or not the delegates supported the safe use of guns or not at all, however, seemed to be less of an issue than what the inflammatory debate could mean for the party at a critical juncture.
“I want a gun registry, but not at any cost,” said delegate Patricia Pepper from Ottawa’s Nepean-Carleton riding.
“It would open up a can of worms.”
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/02/21/l...ng-gun-debate/
