On the committee side of things, Comartin says the NDP has several ideas on how to amend the bill when hearings start in early May. Comartin says New Democrats would also like to streamline and decriminalize some aspects of the registry. Although, unlike the Liberals, the NDP would not allow a blanket pardon on all first-time offenses and Comartin says the fees should stay,To which I have to ask, what is the sense of saying you want to charge for registering firearms when you are helping to scrap the entire system? That's like you are in favor of installing smoke detectors as you are in the process of burning down the building. Recommend this Post
"Much as we pay to register our dog and register our car, we should be paying to register our guns. Not as a profit-making for the government but simply to compensate the government for the cost of the system."
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Does Anyone Understand The NDP Long Gun Policy?
Including the NDP? They are probably going to vote with the government to scrap the long gun registry (on the limp excuse that the bill is not a government bill, so they are powerless to whip it)but then say things like this:
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Can't you whip any vote you darned well feel like?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is an excuse because the caucus is divided along urban/rural lines. Layton whipped the same sex marriage free vote.
ReplyDeleteAlthough by splitting hairs on the whole private/government bill thing means Comartin is not lying. Just being a lawyer.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you don't feed and care for your rural caucus, those seats can flip Tory.
ReplyDeleteLeading to the final nine seats needed for a Harper majority, if all else stays the same in the next election.
I think what he gains here he loses in Quebec. In the end it is a wash.
ReplyDeletePossibly, possibly.
ReplyDeleteThough I think the Quebec City beachhead is defensible as long as it looks like Harper will stay in government. Not unlike Landslide Annie's riding in Edmonton. (When he goes down, it goes down -- except for the Beauce. Bernier is safe there as long as he wants it.)
Anyway, this is all irrelevant to Jack Layton's calculations -- he needs to keep enough seats to be able to pass bills with the government in the next parliament.
And if the combination of Liberals and New Democrats outnumbers the Tory caucus next time out -- all bets are off!