Disappointingly, Justin Trudeau is capitalizing on our national heartbreak over the attack in Nova Scotia to push his ideological agenda forward and make major firearms policy changes. This is wrong.
The Trudeau Liberals have made it clear they do not respect the democratic role of Parliament. If Justin Trudeau had the strength of his convictions, he would have waited until the COVID-19 crisis had subsided to introduce firearms legislation in the House of Commons so that it could have been debated and Canadians’ voices could be heard.
Taking firearms away from law-abiding hunters, farmers and sport shooters does nothing to stop dangerous criminals who obtain their guns illegally. It is a fact that the vast majority ofgun crimes are committed with illegally obtained firearms and nothing the Trudeau Liberals announced last week addresses this problem.
This fact alone makes their flagrant opportunism at this time particularly shameful. Canadians are upset by the horrific attack in Nova Scotia and want answers. However, as the RCMP has made clear, the perpetrator of the Nova Scotia attack did not have a firearms licence, meaning his firearms were illegal. Real leadership would tackle the real problem, even if it is a difficult one to solve.
My Conservative colleagues and I will always support common-sense firearms policies that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. We want to see a firearms plan that addresses the real issues, one that includes support for police anti-gang and gun units, youth prevention programs, action on rural crime, tougher sentences for violent offenders, support for courts and prosecutors, a CBSA Firearms Smuggling Task Force, and increased access to mental health and addictions treatments.
Given the announced two-year amnesty period and the fact that legislation will be required for elements of Justin Trudeau’s firearms plan, I encourage you to voice your concerns to Liberal Members of Parliament, and to NDP Members of Parliament who have voiced support for this policy.
We’ve been through this before. It took hundreds-of-thousands of Canadians, through phone calls, emails and petitions, to convince Liberal Members of Parliament to back down on their imprudent small business tax changes in the last Parliament.
We all need to encourage our friends and family members across the country to do the same in opposition to this undemocratic policy.