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

Jack Layton as Joe Namath

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 4:32pm - 0 Comments

Without naming names, the NDP leader says the votes will be there to defeat Bill C-391. At last check, the count was tied at 151, with only the NDP’s Niki Ashton uncommitted.

In other news, Jean-Yves Roy, the Bloc MP whose exit was the subject of some speculation, will be in his seat for at least the first vote on C-391.

Tags: gun control, gun registry, Jack Layton, Jean-Yves Roy, long gun registry, NDP, registry

More by Aaron Wherry

Emily

Good for Jack Layton!

Now let's hope the Liberals don't let him down.
Bob

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand no one cares anymore.
BGLong

I'll feel more comfortable when I see Joe Cro smile. It's a rare but stunning sight.
LivbloginJunkie

Jack Layton saves the long gun registry, hero to progressives.
The CPC keeps a fundraising goldmine.
Liberals continue their death spiral to irrelevance.
Sounds like a win-win-win
Derek

The Liberals must be hitting the ceiling over this "devastating" news. The last thing they want is for the gun registry to be saved and for Layton to get the credit. This will ruin all their carefully prepared talking points.
Emily

Cons rapidly scramble for excuses….LOL

Wes

I dont see why.They have votes to gain, nice try Emily.But, once again, oh so wrong

Emily

Hey, Cons are always scrambling for excuses for Harper.

Not my problem.
Gayle

Do you really think they have any more votes to gain over this issue? They have been going on and on and on about the registry for years. I think that anyone whose vote depends on this issue already votes for them.

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

I think that anyone whose vote depends on this issue already votes for them.

Unless, of course, people who voted for Liberal and Dipper candidates based on this issue now don't have a choice but to vote Conservative now, right?

Gayle

Really? You actually think that people who want the gun registry dismantled would ever vote liberal?

Come on.

burlivespipe

You think writing off all those urban centres is a gain? Now that it's framed CONs against the "cult of police" and health care professionals?
Your idea of a gain is very interesting…

http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/ Open_Democracy

You've got to love it when those you elect to lead the country reverse their stands on an issue they so convincingly voted in favour of just 10 short months ago. It's a good thing that our politicians aren't getting paid for their leadership; if changing one's conviction on an issue was seen to be a positive thing and if they got paid by the flip-flop, they might actually be worth $157,731 annually.

http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Well, that's why we have elections every once in a while, don't we. That's when we'll find out if these flip-floppers have abandoned their constituents, won't we.

Which is why I'm not as convinced as Jack, Iggy, or anyone else that these votes are lining up as cleanly as they're leading us to believe.
Mike T.

Yeah!

Why Harper wouldn't have lasted 20 minutes in office if pols had to keep their word!

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

What about keeping most of the major promises that got him elected in the first place?

Yes, most politicians break promises, but Liberals have put themselves in an altogether different category, if you ask me.

ChrisWPG

what promise has Harper kept?
D.D.S

Name ONE promise ….MAJOR ONE….Harper has kept….just ONE

Reverend_Blair

The really funny thing is that the Conservatives did this to themselves. They just kept on attacking, kept on making up conspiracy theories, kept on pretending that it was the only issue that mattered to rural Canadians. They made it so difficult to support them that people backed away.

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Yes, this is the NDP party spin. I'm surprised others have bought into it. Voters will be the ultimate judge, though, won't they.

Reverend_Blair

It's not just spin. I've seen a lot of people get turned off by the over the top rhetoric of the Conservative Party. Not just on this issue, but on just about everything they consider important. So questioning government policy on Afghanistan becomes not supporting the troops, and suggesting that Israel isn't exactly innocent gets you accused of anti-semitism. In this case it's the gun registry, and the Conservatives made several statements that made them look like rabid conspiracy theorists and combined those with vicious personal attacks.

Now think about what it's like to be an NDP MP in those conditions. The Conservatives are going to attack you no matter which way you vote. Contrary to the Conservative message, there is also at least some support for the registry in rural ridings, so you're constituents are split. You're hearing a lot about how this isn't the biggest issue, how other Conservative policies have made people angry. And there's the Conservatives bad-mouthing the police, yammering conspiracy theories and just generally behaving like drunken, belligerent 16 year olds. You can't stand being around them and don't want them claiming you support their ridiculous campaigns even while they personally attack you.

Your leader comes to you and says, "You know, if you support us we can likely get these changes to the registry through, which will address your stated concerns. After that maybe we can talk more about (insert regional issue here)."

What would you do?

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

It is the biggest crock in politics to suggest that your opponents are to blame for your own predicament. The truth is that these Dippers are taking orders from Jack Layton. But they'll have you believe that somehow it's Stephen Harper that's calling their shots. Sure it is. And I've got a bridge in Hamilton that's for sale real cheap.

Reverend_Blair

So the Conservatives are to blame for their own predicament. We agree on that.
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

And the Dippers are to blame for theirs. Glad we agree on that.
Reverend_Blair

I'm not seeing much of a problem here. If the Liberals show up the registry stays and the Liberals will pretty much have to support the NDP compromise position. If the Liberals don't show up and the registry is killed, it's on the Liberals, not the NDP. The NDP have two rural/Northern seats that could be put in play over this issue, but stand to do better in the cities as a result. If their compromise gets through, they stand to make gains in prairie ridings where there are other issues. If they don't make gains, they really haven't lost anything.

inmyopinion

Layton, you've just lost any Rural votes you may have had…..enjoy kissing Liberal a$$!

Emily

If Dippers had killed the registry, they wouldn't have gotten enough votes to even keep a party.
Shelby

He has lost the rural vote.He lied and said they talked to their constituents Trust me, they did no such thing.His 16% will look more like 5% .Stupid move Jack

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

It will be interesting to see how this goes down. I don't think it's as simplistic as many from all sides want to make it.
Emily

How would you know?

Wes

How wouldnt you?

Reverend_Blair

Funny, my NDP MP talked to me about this. So did a candidate from another (presently Conservative held) riding where my family has some land. I'd have to say that they did did talk to their constituents.

chet

Usually the CPC riding competition is the Libs. Not in many rural areas. There its the NDP.

Jack may feel good now about this, but Harper the chess master just moved several rural ridings into their camp, where long guns are a very big issue.

Reverend_Blair

They aren't that big of an issue. In most prairie ridings north of the Trans Canada, the CWB is at least as big, and Harper's on the wrong side of that. In Northwest Ontario, mining and logging are big issues and people are getting laid off…that's on Harper's head.

In addition to that, there are ridings that are mixed urban and rural, especially in Saskatchewan, making this particular issue more or less a wash.

In addition to that, the split between rural and urban people isn't as huge as the Conservative rhetoric and the shallow press coverage presents it. There's a whole lot of cross-over.

Layton is offering a compromise on this issue. That seems pretty reasonable to a lot of people who want to keep their guns and to a lot of people who want guns controlled.

Richard_S_Argent

I keep reading about how the NDP will face rural ruin if they kill the registry. I'm looking at the result of the last election and I'm just not seeing it. In most of their rural ridings the NDP won by very large margins, and 2nd place was usually the Liberals. The Conservatives would have to make pretty huge leaps in support to win these seats.

Churchill
Niki Ashton – 47.4%
Lib – 28.8%
CPC – 20.4%

Thunder Bay-Rainey River
John Rafferty – 40.3%
Lib – 32.2%
CPC – 23.5%

Thunder Bay-Superior North
Bruce Hyer – 37%
Lib – 28.3%
CPC – 26%

Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing
Carol Hughes – 45.5%
Lib – 32.5%
CPC – 17.6%

Timmins-James Bay
Charlie Angus – 56.5%
Lib – 22.1%
CPC – 18.2%

Nickel Belt
Claude Gravelle – 46.5%
Lib – 26.2%
CPC – 21.6%

Sault Ste Marie (this one IS close)
Tony Martin – 40.4%
CPC – 37.6%
Lib – 16.7%

Sudbury
Glenn Thibeault – 35.6%
Lib – 30.5%
CPC – 25.8%

Acadie-Bathurst
Yvan Godin – 57.4%
Lib – 21.9%
CPC – 18.5%

Western Arctic (also very close)
Dennis Bevington – 41.4%
CPC – 37.6%
Lib – 13.5%

Skeena-Bulkley Valley
Nathan Cullen – 49.7%
Con – 36.5%
Lib – 5.5% (Wow. That's LOW.)

British Columbia – Southern Interior
Alex Atamanenko – 47.7%
Con – 35.6%
Lib – 6.87

So out of 12 rural/northern ridings held by the NDP, only 2 were all that close and had the CPC garnering the 2nd most votes. Would losing 2 seats of their rural caucus really be the armageddeon we're being told it would be, keeping in mind that they came very close 2nds in places like Parkdale-High Park and Oshawa?

Stewart_Smith

I think of all the parties, the NDP's success is most often the result of truly exceptional, dedicated local candidates that are very well known and respected in their home ridings.

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

I'd stop drinking their Kool-Aid pronto!
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Oh, but if you're right, you may have given a reason as to why these flip-flops might hurt. They chose to side with the coalition instead of their constituents.

Stewart_Smith

Dennis, if it makes you feel better the other interpretation of what I said is that the NDP policies suck so they don't have a chance without an exceptional, well known person. On the other hand, Harper's personality combined with the obvious superiority of Conservative philosophy means that a trained monkey has a fair shot riding the Conservative wave. (That last part is actually true in Calgary South.)

Feel better?

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Sorry, Stewey, but I just don't see a modern version of the Knights of the Round Table over on the Dipper benches. More like Revenge of the Nerds: Canadian Chapter.
Greg

Revenge of the Nerds? Wow, the frat boys really do run the Conservatives, don't they?
baffled

Didn't the Nerds always win at the end of those movies……stick that in yer pipe and smoke it Ogre!
D.D.S

that statment really makes me think that the Reformers are really just bullies….the ones that stole your lunch money and pulled the wings off of flies………….Bill Gates was a nerd……..So now I am wondering……are educated people elitists or nerds in the reformer world?

Emily

Ahhh that invisible coalition again….who commit the unreported crime….who'll go in our unbuilt prisons. LOL

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

What invisible? It happened. You were a big booster. You'd do it again, right?
Emily

Mmm no it didn't Dennis….no coalition ever took over, and even the idea of one was repudiated by Iggy….but you are big on invisible things, I know.
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

They all signed a coalition agreement, including Iggy. You were a huge supporter of it. What happened? If it was as awesome as you claim, then why run away from it now?

But good to see you go back to your m.o., which is passing along Liberal party agitation points.
Emily

The coalition was a short-lived agreement that died along time ago. When Iggy became leader in fact, and repudiated it. I'm sure you were around. Perhaps you weren't paying attention….as usual?

Maybe there was a new comic issue out that week?
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Only recently he said it was an option. Again, why so terrified of a possibility you once fully endorsed, and would no doubt do so again? I don't understand why you wouldn't defend it. Oh, I know why. Because an actual election could decided the matter, instead of forcing it undemocratically. Fascinating to see who has the hidden agenda now.
Emily

Mmm no, gone ages ago.

Each party running for a majority now.

Keep up.
Blacktop

I love this. I notice in my hardcopy of MacLean's (finally got going again). Some time ago I was impressed that from the count of "most read"and "most commented upon" in the mag, it appeared a lot of people wre active on MacLean's pages.

But no, it's Emily, Dennis F and Stewart who boost the count.
Emily

LOL that's hilarious!
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Hmmm. I tend to avoid most blog posts. But, the ones I do comment on I tend to stay engaged in to my satisfaction. I'd like to know what count you're talking about.
D.D.S

if I remember correctly….didn't Harper HIMSELF sign a letter to GG …with the Bloc..no less………
see here is the thing Dennis………we are a Parlimentary Democracy….with Parliment as supreme……….SO…………coalitions are not scary………they are a normal part of our political system…………….and Dennis……………us small C's are getting a LITTLE tired of the BS

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

According to Don Martin, Layton has just given the Tories exactly what they've wanted, which is a path to a majority government through rural Canada. Again, I'm not as convinced that it's that simplistic.

However, if true, you can credit Ignatieff. It would be the second time where he's won a battle with the NDP perhaps at the cost at losing the war with the Tories. Who knows.

Emily

Cons may have rural Canada with everyone's blessing, because Canada is 80% urban.

Blacktop

No, too much politics in this. It is going to backfire because for a lot of rural (and also commonsense people who are teed off at the politicians backing and fillIng.will call them to account. And wjhoever saw a thug go into a seven/11 with a rifle or a shotgun when hand guns are so easy to get (hands across the border so to speak.)

Also there are
a) a lot of immigrants who seem to think it is great that in this free land they can go and fish and hunt which most couldn't do back wherever Also some have had ahistory of people shooting them and like the idea of self ptotection.
b) alsotghere are a lot of exp[atriate country folks in the city.

c. Finally, most intelligentpeople know the statements by the chiefs about the number of reference to the registryare nonsense. they are the product of automatic referrals to the system when any query is made – vehicle license, etc.

d. When a cougar goes after a lamb, you don't have time to run back to the house and unlock the damn gun rack to get at your weapon. It's usually racked in the back of the pickup.

e) Crimes of passion will use any hand weapon – knife, gun, axe, hatchet, hammer and so on -whatever's handy.

The result is that ordinary common sense people that they are having their milk soured by the politicikans like Latyton. He would be a lot smarter to encourage his country members who were listed above to get with it and get rid of the damn registry. And pray, how do you "fix"a computerized system of that magnitude. I thought the NDP had some brains!

Gayle

"Finally, most intelligent people know the statements by the chiefs about the number of reference to the registry are nonsense."

I just love this line of argument. "I say X. If you do not agree you are stupid!"

(Most intelligent people do not debate like that).

http://scottdiatribe.canflag.com/ Scott_Tribe

THats the magic bullet – the long gun registry?

Hardly. The Tories have just as much to lose in Quebec and urban Ontario and BC for voting against this as they might pick up in rural Canada (which as Richard has just listed would require massive 3rd place swings to the Conservatives in most ridings – and this is nowhere near a given)

Are the Cons going to make the long gun registry THE issue for them to have majority election success?

If they thought so.. they'd have made this "private member bill" (in name only) an actual official government bill, and then they would have declared a vote against it would be a declaration of a vote of non-confidence (despite it not being a money or budget bill, but thats not stopped them before).

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

As far as I can tell, it's supposed to work for them in rural ridings without sacrificing ridings they already hold.

Look, there has to be a reason why all parties, except for maybe the Bloc, are going ape over the registry, right?

Reverend_Blair

Don Martin, or more likely the analyst he refers to, needs to learn math. The Conservatives are a distant third in most of those twelve NDP ridings, and the NDP MPs didn't get elected on the gun registry.

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Again, then why are all the parties going ape over this if it won't have any impact? Something doesn't add up in the analysis.

Reverend_Blair

Because the Conservatives turned it into a wedge issue and refused to just let it be or make compromises. The compromises the NDP are talking about are basically the same ones they were pushing when the original C-68 was being implemented. If the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives were serious about addressing the concerns they mention when they aren't spinning conspiracy theories, they could have worked with the NDP and Liberals from rural ridings and got changes without scrapping it. Instead the Conservatives chose to play wedge politics. What were the Liberals and NDP and Bloc supposed to do? Just let the Conservatives kick the crap out of them on it?

There's also the weird election math. The Conservatives get a shot at two NDP seats and maybe as many as four Liberal seats over this. They put 19 or 20 of their own seats in play over it though, and risk returning to being a rural/western rump party.

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

You can parrot NDP talking points all you want, you're still not explaining why this is so important to all the parties.Simply blaming the Tories for every woe on this planet isn't an explanation.
Reverend_Blair

It's important because the Conservatives made it a wedge issue. If it wasn't for that, nobody would be talking about it. It would be a non-issue.

The Conservatives decided to play politics with it, and the opposition parties said, "Yeah, okay." When the Conservatives decided to play nasty, they fought back even harder. Somewhere along the line they figured out that they could actually make gains over this issue.

Now I just know that you're going to say that's just an NDP talking point, because you've been unable to come up with anything else.
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

You're not addressing the issue except to, yes, use the lame Dipper talking point that it's all the Tories fault. That doesn't explain why the issue is so important. In fact, it suggests that your preferred party is filled with child-like minds. Do you really believe that? "Mama, Stevey made me do it?"
Reverend_Blair

What issue am I not addressing?

I'm not going to endorse the Conservative position on the registry, not least because they've been extremely dishonest about it from the start, are practicing the worst kind of wedge politics on this, and have displayed the kind of attitude one usually sees in street gangs on this and other issues.

By the way, the NDP aren't doing what Stevie tells them to. He tried, but he couldn't make them do what he said. I wonder how many pieces of innocent furniture he's beaten up today because of that?
inmyopinion

No the NDP are stupid enough to do what Iggy tells them!
Reverend_Blair

They haven't done that either. What they've done is to go their own way and taken a reasoned approach instead of issuing ultimatums and threats.
brooster

Amen, Rev.

D.D.S

80% of our population are in cities ……….majority isn't going to happen for Harper………………………ever

Richard_S_Argent

(wow, sorry for the obscenely long post there!)

Emily

It was worth it.
Stewart_Smith

Never, ever apologize for pertinent and accurate facts. We often get one or the other… but very seldom both.
Jan

Thanks for posting it – I didn't realize that the Cons were third in most of these ridings. Not quite the slam dunk they would have us believe.
D.D.S

sometimes I get more relevant information from these comments then I do from the media…………never say sorry for telling the truth

AJR79

I'm puzzled over the Joe Namath referance.

Is it because he guaranteed victory and delivered, or did he get drunk and embarass himself on national TV again?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs3Z2Z2WMJk

Richard_S_Argent

One of the greatest moments in television history!

"I really want to kiss you right now" – Brilliant!

I think you wanted to post this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc65NC44dSk

AJR79

Oopsie. Thanks for posting the correct link.

I did that one as I was heading out the door.

Stewart_Smith

Neither, it was the pantyhose thing.

[youtube qf3oOQq9KFU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3oOQq9KFU youtube]

chet

Scott Tribe asks if the long gun is the "magic bullet"?

The answer of course is no. It's a couple of seats, which if you're only a few seats away from a majority is pretty important.

Harper actually has two very big "magic bullets":

1) He presides over the Western world's most successful ecomonies, and

2) His principle opponent is an out of touch academic elitist who has no discernable policy intitiatives that would offer a better Canada.

The first point is enough though. Forget the close polls now (summer polls are always "close", more a function of disinterest than anything else), come the next election it won't even be close.

Harper's pattern of gaining seats each election as he continues to gain the Nation's trust on important bread and butter issues, will continue.

Reverend_Blair

1) Not to cheer on the Liberals, but they kind of gifted that to Harper. I haven't seen him doing much to preserve it. Okay, I've been seeing him do a lot to destroy it.

2) The same could be said of Harper. He's never held a job outside of politics, unless you are naive enough to try to argue that the NCC is something other than a political lobbying organization. He seldom appears in public and when he does it's always in highly controlled circumstances.

Ignatieff, at least, was out there as a working journalist and writer (a tough bloody gig to be successful at), then in the highly competitive arena of high-level academics, not sequestered in the basement at U of C.

I don't like either of them, and don't agree with 99% of their ideas, but when it comes to being an out of touch academic elitist, Harper is more out of touch and more elitist than Ignatieff. He loses on the academic score, but only because he wasn't competent enough to compete at high levels, possibly because he had no real-world experience.

brooster

I think I prefer the guy with lengthy international experience over the guy who hadn't been outside North America before becoming PM. Why does "parochial" trump "worldly" in some people's eyes?

http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

I think I'd prefer a guy who's actually wanted to live here for that past thirty years. As would most Canadians that aren't elitist snobs who make fun of Sun readers or anyone else they find uncouth.

Emily

LOL like yourself perhaps.
http://secondthots.blogspot.com Dennis_F

Yes, I've wanted to live here. Harper, too. Not Iggy. Right?
Emily

Mmmm yes we need people who hide under their bed, Dennis. NOT.

2.5 million Canadians are currently ex-pats. Live with it.
inmyopinion

Emily, who cares if many Canadians are ex-pats, that has nothing to do with this discussion, unless of course all of those 2.5 million choose to run for the Prime Minister's office. That is what this is about. Many of us have travelled the world, spoke to others from other countries and have our own opinions as to which direction we think Canada should go. Many do not feel the leftist view is sustainable, many are tired of being overtaxed while paying for the useless in our society. OOPS! not politically correct, how about some honesty, no matter how un-Liberal it is…
Reverend_Blair

Who cares where Ignatieff lived? I know plenty of people who lived and worked out of the country for extended periods. They are still Canadian. If anything, their time abroad gives them an opportunity to better understand what it means to be Canadian. One of the strongest believers in Canada that I know lives in Seattle.

Don't you guys have anything real to go after Ignatieff for? Your biggest complaints seem to be that he's smart and talented enough to have landed a gig at one of the best universities on the planet. Gee, what horrid flaws.
Why would we want smart, talented politicians?

There are plenty of substantive issues to go after the man on. Why not do your homework and offer some of those up?
D.D.S

frankly I would like to see just ONE harper supporter defend what he has done…..show me the promises he's kept….show me how he has added to Canadian Culture….or has brought us together in any way….show me where ANYWHERE that he has been fiscally conservative…………………….

chet

Of course I could be wrong. Our universe could be turned on its head, with the populace concerned more about academic distinctions of long form vs. short form census rather than whether their children will have a decent standard of living,

but I doubt it very much.

Emily

Yes, you are wrong.

But then that isn't unusual.
Blacktop

That may be true but I think they are really concerned with kids and food on the table. And it's interesting. I'm not a political crystal gazer like some of the folks on this page, but despite the name- calling and rhetoric Harper comes across (from the viewpoint of the voter) as a solid, praying citizen who minds the till (when there isn't a word crisis). I think he had to let loose the stimulus and the temporary (let's hope) auto bail-out because being the leader of the only country who is in reasonably good shape, and considereing the braying of the Libs and NDP for stimulus money, and given the sheer importance of GM and Chrysler to Ontario, how could he do anything else?

But he belongs in a minority position, not a majority. I don't like the parallel with Bush – a following of self-righteous evalangical fundamentalists would get us into areas most of us don't want to reopen.

Emily

Well I don't think kids belong on the table, but maybe that's just me. LOL

And no, voters don't see Harper as any 'solid praying citizen who minds the till'
D.D.S

Really?????……………………I just don't get that??…where has this man "Minded the till"…no where ………….and that's one reason he's lost my vote…..he spends like a drunked sailor..and tells us that it's time for "austerity"..

Reverend_Blair

Issues like the census…fact-based policy over magical thinking…are very much about looking after the kids and making sure there's food on the table. Look at the number of business and economic organizations who want Harper to keep the census mandatory. Do you think they are doing that because of "academic distinctions?" Nope, they are doing that because not having solid numbers will hurt the economy and, ultimately, their bottom lines.

Gayle

Does anyone really think there are any more votes to be won over the long gun registry? Is there anyone who posts here for whom the registry is a vote determiner who is going to change their vote if the registry is not dismantled?
Greg

And how will the chess master hang onto his GTA and Greater Vancouver seats with this fraud of a private member's bill?
Harvey Mushman

I'm still not convinced that Iggy can control his own caucus. It wouldn't surprise me at all if a few of his MP's went AWOL when the vote is called….maybe a few loyal Rae supporters perhaps?

Wes

where is booby Rae, muzzled in some cellar

rdmark

It's a win / win for the CPC, If they vote to keep the LGR, it would cement at least 35% national vote for them…
Reverend_Blair

I don't know who your MP is, so I can't speak to that. I do know that if you sit silently, MPs don't make a point of contacting you being that most ridings contain more than a half-dozen people.
Skinny Dipper

If the abolition of the gun registry is a private member's bill, why is the Conservative Party paying for ads in NDP ridings? Is Conservative Party headquarters paying for these ads? Or did some Conservative MP's get together and collect some pennies?
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I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis back in 1983. I can hardly walk now and it seems my condition worsens every day. When I first heard about the Liberation procedure and its results from a friend, I thought United States would be the first to conduct the trials. I could never imagine the corruption involved. I ended up applying for this simple procedure in Poland and waiting.. The other options were to get it done in India. After researching the internet extensively, I came across http://www.ccsviclinic.ca/ . They are screening for CCSVI in Fargo, ND and have very affordable packages for the Liberation procedure in India. I called (404)461-9560 and spoke to their nurse administrator Lisa whose priceless support made me realize that we are not alone in the fight against MS. They are screening within the US and Canada, their medical travel package includes flight arrangements and help with the visas, world class accommodation and meals within their hospitals, the liberation procedure, a stent if needed, medications necessary, a site-seeing tour, Pre-and post-procedure supervision, Full medical file including copies of charts, screens, CDs of Venograms, blood work, EKGs, etc. Post Procedure Screenings, follow-up and consultation with surgeons for the next 6 months and so many other provisions Lisa told me about, I can’t recall however you might be able to find out more on their site.. http://ccsviclinic.ca/?page_id=564 . They are providing all of this at just $13000 as compared to the other companies that charge something like $20000 just for the procedure. You may also contact Lisa by emailing her at apply@ccsviclinic.ca or calling her on (404)461-9560. I am getting liberated mid-October and I am so very thankful to everyone at CCSVI Clinic for making this happen!
inmyopinion

Your analysis is a little flawed, this is a rural/urban divide issue, I guess you are right that the NDP will not loose any rural ridings, they don't hold any now. What you have quoted looks pretty urban to me.(correct me if I'm wrong) I hope the true rural people who are being targeted by this pathetic system, remember the Liberals and NDP at the next election. I think the resentment will not die down any time soon, thank you again to all the ever wise city dwellers for pushing your ignorance on us. Common sense is lost in politics – once again.
And those Police chiefs are all politics!
Emily

Well if it's a rural/urban divide the Cons have lost. Canada is 80% urban.
Reverend_Blair

Are you saying that Churchill and Northwest Ontario aren't rural? Are you suggesting that what gets called rural on the Prairies and in Alberta are?

Sorry, I've been to a lot of these places, and Thunder Bay-Rainey River is more rural than Regina-Qua'apelle or Yorkton-Melville.
Frank, Toronto

Well, stop the presses!! A Fascist/Socialist political party is in favour of gun control!! In other news, I hear that more and more cats are declaring that they like tuna.
Emily

And Cons love the past. An obvious fact. LOL
D.D.S

Do people know what fascist and socialist mean any more……..are our schools REALLY that bad
Smitty77

With a multi party system, we are governed by people who more than half the exectorate didn't like. Time we had run-offs for the top two vote getters and if it means the end of a 3 or 4 party system, so be it!!