Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

He rides again

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 4:16pm - 0 Comments

Perhaps for the sake of history, someone with the Liberal research team apparently thought it necessary to record James Bezan’s gun registry video. And so here again, now with the added cache that someone seemingly would rather this not be seen, is Mr. Bezan, atop a horse, explaining the upcoming vote on Bill C-391.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Bookmark and Share
  • LynnTO

    Compare and contrast: [youtube jU7fhIO7DG0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0 youtube]

    I think the horses' eyes say it all.

    • Stephen

      It's not a fair comparison!

      How can Bezan's video compare to that of Peterson's, when Bezan didnt brandish a long gun, I assume only because he was being inconvenienced too much by having to register it.

    • Tom C

      Right on, Now I wish we had politicians in this country that could stand up and talk as powerfully as this Alabama man. Thanks mom and dad for birthing me into the wrong country!

      Vote Conservative, and support our rural Heritage!

      • Emily

        Canada is 80% urban.

      • bill_y

        you are not serious….are you?

    • MarionKl

      My guess is that someone showed Bezan that video…

  • Emily

    Well I'm glad somebody saved it.

    The lack of originality is priceless.

  • MarionKl

    That's hilarious!!
    And he's chiding Ignatieff for whipping the vote, and then getting mad at Layton for allowing his caucus a free vote?

    The mind boggles.

    • Amateur Hour

      Consistency, reason and evidence are anathema to Reform Conservatives.

      • Dave

        Conservatives: Our Principles Don't Apply to Us.

  • Dave

    James Bezan was first elected in 2004 under the Conservative platform which stated, "A Conservative government led by Stephen Harper will make all votes, except the budget and main estimates, “free votes” for ordinary Members of Parliament."

    Can anyone remember the last time the Harperites had a free vote on anything? When was the last time any of their members dissented on any vote? "Nation motion" maybe?

    • hosertohoosier

      Only four MP's in any party have more than 1 dissension. 3/4 are Conservatives (including James Bezan, Dean Allison, Wayne Marston and Joy Smith). http://howdtheyvote.ca/member-stats.php?o=dw_dd&a…

      As for free votes, I don't know if this is the most recent case, but in April 2010 the vote on C-384 (a bill to legalize euthanasia) was definitely a free vote. Two Conservative cabinet ministers voted for the bill (Josee Verner and Lawrence Cannon), while other big names abstained (including Stephen Fletcher and Jim Flaherty).

      • MarionKl

        Did you read what Fletcher said after that vote? It brought tears to my eyes.

        (edit: Just looked at your link, and boy do the Liberals miss a lot of votes.)

      • Dave

        Hey, here's the crazy thing… there has actually been more than one session of Parliament! Strange but true!

  • bergkamp

    "Perhaps for the sake of history, someone with the Liberal research team apparently thought …. "

    Wow … I am so impressed with my tax $$$ at work. I really feel like I am getting my money's worth when I read/watch examples like this.

    And acknowledging that you are acting on behalf of the Liberal Party does not make it right, Wherry.

    • Emily

      So I guess you're impressed with the Cons following Iggy around this summer, taping everything, producing transcripts, just like you were when they poured over all his books, and finances, and past jobs and all eh?

      • Loraine Lamontagne

        The Conservatives were most proud of the Grewal edits….

        Are the Conservatives stil using HoC employees to tape citizens attending political meetings?

    • Dave

      Agreed! This Liberal staffer who spent three of your tax-dollar minutes videotaping his computer monitor is so much worse than the entire Conservative research office spending five years writing, printing, and mailing millions of the cheesiest, lowest-brow, sleeziest political advertising this country has ever seen, and doing it all on the taxpayer's dime in the guise of "ten-percenters" I am almost as outraged about Bezanhorsieliberalvideogate as you are! Liberal staffer, you owe us Canadians 96 cents!

  • Reverend_Blair

    Just to set the record straight…

    I have friends up in the Interlake. Some of them own horses, some of them own long guns, some of them likely voted Conservative. None of them are are as goofy as Bezan appears in this video though. While there are no doubt some half-witted hillbillies living up there, they…unlike the MP that represents them…are not completely witless.

    • Dave

      I know that, too, mainly because all the other Interlakers I know are much better at jump-cuts.

    • Thwim

      Perhaps they should consider voting for somebody who represents them better then.

      • Reverend_Blair

        That's what I keep saying too.

      • TedTylerEzro

        Who's that then?

        • auntie_em_m

          ABC

          • TedTylerEzro

            There is another party that wants to get rid of the Wheat Board and the Registry?

  • guest

    Can someone transcribe the text?

  • tedbetts

    Once again, by email request, the original transcript:

    “Hello, voters, look at your MP, now back to me, now back at your MP, now back to me. Sadly, he or she isn’t me, but if he or she stopped thinking about safety and violence and evidence based policy-making and switched to Old Tory, he could…… act like he’s me. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re at your desk, watching a video of the man your MP could act like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an oyster with 9 votes for that thing you love. Look again, the votes are now gone and the registry is no more. Anything is possible when your MP smells and acts like Old Tory and not an evil Canada-hating coalition traitor. I’m on a horse.”

    • heather

      That was awesome. You've earned yourself a slow clap, sir.

    • LaserGuy

      "evidence based policy-making" What evidence based policy-making? You mean the CACP that said the gun registry only costs 4 million a year to operate (4m won't even cover the payroll) or the 11,000 times a day they say they use it (which everybody knows are mostly automatically generated on every single jay walking and speeding ticket.) So far there is absolutely NO evidence at all that it does what the Liberals told us it would do, and that's reduce 'crime'. If this registry is so great, why does Iggy even have to whip his MP's to support it.. You would think that if it was such a good idea, it would survive on it's own merit.. But nope.. Even Iggy knows it's a total sham.. You can always tell a Liberal, but your sure can't tell em much!
      Iggy sure ain't on a horse, but he sure spouts a lot of what comes out the back of one!
      Like the sign on the back of Bezan's horse trailer would say, "Don't be what you see"

      • Dave

        I'll take that over policy-based evidence-making.

      • tedbetts

        Well, on the one hand, we have years worth of reporting from cops saying it is used, it is useful, it is cheap, we are getting good value for our money (now), it helps keep us safe, it helps keep cops safe, it saves lives. They throw in things like "statistics" and the like to back up their claim.

        On the other hand, we have Harper and co. in opposition to it. Now, the question I have that no one ever seems to want to even ask is what evidence do they have of its uselessness. I mean, aside from claims that cops are dirty liars in it for themselves who are part of some great conspiracy to get the Conservatives (a claim not backed up by any evidence mind you). What evidence do they ever provide other than attacks? None.

        They like their guns. They like their gun lobby friends. And I think they just simply enjoy the act of lying to the public so much they do it as often as they can.

  • Step5555

    My biggest worry is that the Liberals had to resort to actually taping this off the computer with a Blackberry (from the looks of it).

    It's annoying that they couldn't find anyone with a copy of one of the roughly ten million extensions that allow one to download online videos.

    • Dave

      It's also annoying that Bezan sobered up before anyone had a chance to download the flash video.

  • LaserGuy

    They recorded it with a blackberry instead of just downloading it because Liberals as a general rule are computer illiterate.. Note the incredible amount of money they wasted on a simple database of guns.. A flash went off during this recording as well.. If they wanted a hard copy, I'm amazed they didn't just put the big screen face down on a photocopier and press the button..

  • Skinny Dipper

    "Now look at the opposition. Look at me. Look at the opposition. Look at me again. Keep looking. I've got CRAP on my back!"

Previous

Next

From Macleans