It was only a matter of time. A matter of time before another unnecessary act of violence took place on Canadian soil. With an increasingly Americanized view on firearms (re: killing tools), we Canadians are ALL responsible for what occurred today in Montreal.
For years there has been a debate (nay, battle) between the right wing (Reform/Alliance/Conservatives) advocating less gun control, and an Americanization of our system, and the rest of Canada (Lib, NDP, Bloc) preferring a more civilized society. While I am a proud Liberal, I can say - without equivocation - that our last government spent entirely too much time kowtowing to the rhetoric of a handful of angry gun-nuts (who had a loud, rich, American-backed gun lobby on their side), rather than being more concerned about prevention. While Mr. Cretien's gov't created a registry to help combat gun crime (which worked VERY effectively - ask the police who used it 5000 times per day), Mr. Martin's weaker gov't allowed itself to be bullied by the neo-Cons.
This sickening and horrifying event - aimed at our society's youngest, best, and brightest - is a really good time for us to go back to our roots (as a party), and DEMAND STRONGER GUN CONTROL. We need to take a strong stand right now. We need to stake our claim on the issue, and let Shrub (Stevie Bush Jr.) try to defend the arms industry and gun nuts... Not only will we be standing up for the victims, and ordinary Canadians everywhere, but we will also be reuniting with multitudes of our moderate Quebec supporters - at a time where we both need each other badly.
We need Bill Graham to stand up and condemn this senseless act - AND - ensure we take a very traditional, moderate, Liberal approach on it. Let's ensure that we work to increase gun control today - so our children never have to face this again... Mr. Graham? You have the floor...
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