Long-Gun Registry: What's Going On?

Long-Gun Registry: What's Going On?

This morning, practising what I preach, I began writing letters to MPs as part of the Canadian Labour Congress's Keep Our Communities Safe campaign. It took only about 15 minutes to contact 17 MPs to ask them to vote in favour of maintaining the gun registry in Canada. However, I came across some very unsettling information in the process.

Other related posts:
Long-gun: A Change of Heart

As you may be aware from my previous posts, the Conservative government is moving towards abolishing the long-gun registry through Bill-C391. This odd term, "long gun," refers to shotguns and rifles, as they are the most common type of weapon used in Canada. If the Conservative government succeeds, the nearly 8 million firearm records consulted daily by law enforcement and police will simply be deleted. As I pointed out in my Hypothetical Society post, this firearm database is consulted 10,000 times a day and has reduced the spousal homicide rate by 50%. Please also bear in mind that women are 4 times more likely to be killed by their spouses than men.

In order to stop Bill-C391 from becoming law, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has urged voters to contact the opposition MPs who voted with the Conservatives to persuade them to change their vote. The CLC states that we need only 14 more MPs to change their vote to defeat this bill in its final reading. I started by e-mailing these people this morning and learned incredulously that MPs Ashton, Allen, Angus, Cullen, Bevington, C. Hughes, Gravelle, Hyer, Maloway, Raferty, Stoffer, and Thibeault are all members of the NDP, a political party that I had always believed advocated and supported measures to end gun violence and violence against women.

The long-gun registry was implemented in the early nineties in response to the Montreal Massacre. On December 6, 1989, gunman Marc Lépine walked into the École Polytechnique and shot 28 women killing 14.

Below you will find the list and contact info of opposition MPs who voted with the Conservative government to abolish the long-gun registry. I've put an asterisk beside the NDP members.

Ontario

Allen, Malcolm - Welland - 60, King Street, Welland (Ontario) L3B 6A4
T: 905-788-2204 F: 905-788-0071 Email: Allen.Ma@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Angus, Charlie - Timmins-James Bay - 20, Duncan Ave. South C.P. 276 Kirkland Lake (Ontario) P2N 3H7
T: 705-567-2747 F: 705-567-5232 Email: AngusC@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Gravelle, Claude - Nickel Belt - 203-2945, route 69 Nord Val Caron (Ontario) P3N 1N3
T: 705-897-2222 F: 705-897-2223 Email: Gravelle.C@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Hughes, Carol - Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing - 20 Prince Edward Walk Elliot Lake (Ontario) P5A 1Z7 *NDP member
T: 705-848-8080 F: 705-848-1818 Email: Hughes.C@parl.gc.ca

Hyer, Bruce - Thunder Bay—Superior North-69, North Court Road, Thunder Bay (Ontario) P7A 4T7 *NDP member
T: 807-345-1818 F: 807-345-4752 Email: Hyer.B@parl.gc.ca

Rafferty, John - Thunder Bay—Rainy River- 409, rue George Thunder Bay (Ontario) P7E 5Y9
T: 807-623-6000 F: 807-623-6001 Email: Rafferty.J@parl.gc.ca*NDP member

Rota, Anthony - Nipissing—Timiskaming - 133, Main Street West, North Bay (Ontario) P1B 1T6
T: 705-474-3700 F: 705-474-6964 Email: RotaA@parl.gc.ca

Thibeault, Glenn - Sudbury - 103A – 40, rue Elm Sudbury (Ontario)
P3C 1S8 T: 705-673-7107 F: 705-673-0944 Email:Thibeault.G@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Manitoba

Ashton, Niki - Churchill 307-83, prom. Churchill Thompson, (Manitoba) R8N 0L4
T: 866-785-0522 Email: Ashton.N@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Maloway, Jim - Elmwood—Transcona 4-1600, Regent Avenue West Winnipeg (Manitoba) R2C 3B5
T: 204-984-2499 F: 204-984-2502 Email: Maloway.J@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Newfoundland & Labrador

Andrews, Scott - Avalon 944-956, route Conception Bay Kelligrews, Newfoundland A1X 3H1
T: 709-834-3424 F: 709-834-3628 Email: Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca

Russell, Todd - Labrador C.P. 1401, succursale B, 69, Hamilton River Drive, Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Newfoundland) A0P 1E0
T: 709-896-2483 F: 709-896-9425 Email: RusseT@parl.gc.ca

Simms, Scott - Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor - 61, chemin Elizabeth, Gander Newfoundland, A1V 1G4
T: 709-256-3130 F: 709-256-3169 Email: SimmsSc@parl.gc.ca

Northwest Territories

Bevington, Dennis - Western Arctic 4908-49th Street CP 1986
Yellowknife North West Territories X1A 2P5
T: 867-873-6995 F: 867-920-4233 Email: BevinD@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

Nova Scotia

Stoffer, Peter - Sackville—Eastern Shore 2900, route 2 Fall River Nova Scotia B2T 1W4
T: 902-861-2311 F: 902-861-4620 Email: StoffP@parl.gc.ca *NDP member

New Brunswick

D'Amours, Jean-Claude - Madawaska—Restigouche 71, rue Saint François Edmundston, New Brunswick E3V 1E5
T: 506-739-4600 F: 506-739-4607 Email: DamouJ@parl.gc.ca

Prince Edward Island

Easter, Wayne (Hon.) - Malpeque C.P. 70 Hunter River, Prince Edward Island C0A 1N0
T: 902-964-2428 F: 902-964-3242 Email: EasteW@parl.gc.ca

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National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

I couldn't rightfully call myself a feminist if I didn't devote a post to the 20th anniversary of the Montreal massacre. As you may recall 25-year-old Marc Lépine walked into the École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989, and shot 28 women, killing 14 for the simple reason that they were women. I can recall this incident very clearly. I was living in a Canadian university residence in Paris with many students from Montreal. Word traveled quickly through the lounges, kitchens and lobby, but it took a few days to get all the details. I will never forget the horror of learning that Lépine had gone into a classroom and actually asked the male portion of the class to leave. In his suicide note, he blamed feminists for his failures in life.

As a result of this tragic event, the federal government made December 6 the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It also implemented a gun registry, which according to the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has reduced spousal homicide by 50%. As you may also be aware, our Conservative government is currently trying to abolish the gun registry in the form of Bill C-391.

The CLC has spearheaded a campaign entitled 20 Days and 20 Ways to End Violence Against Women. It is asking people to send the Prime Minister a postcard a day for 20 days asking him to keep the gun registry. The CLC has created a user-friendly electronic postcard that you can send directly to the PM (Click here your for postcard.). Now unfortunately, I am behind in my postcards, so I will be sending 10 today and 10 tomorrow, and I invite you to do the same.

The Canadian Labour Congress believes that ending violence against women cannot be done through a law and order agenda and instead advocates comprehensive social and economic policies, which include:

• maintaining the long gun registry
• access to affordable, safe housing
• a living minimum wage
• effective pay equity laws
• a national publicly-funded child care program
• equal access to Employment Insurance
• access to justice, including the resources to challenge discriminatory government action and legal aid
• increased governmental support for women’s centres, rape crisis centres and women’s shelters
• legal protection and support for women who report sexual assault
  

The Canadian Labour Congress accuses the current government of "severely limiting women’s capacity to organize, advocate and lobby," and is calling for "the government to drop its law and order agenda and instead, develop an effective women’s equality agenda."

Tomorrow, candlelight vigils will be held across Canada to remember these 14 women and all of the other women who have been the victims of violence. If you can't attend a vigil, then just fire off a postcard or two and help stop Bill C-391. I'm already on postcard number 5.

Sources:
Canadian Labour Congress

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