Gun control may be an issue in 2019

Liberals and Tories are laying the groundwork for guns to be a wedge issue federal election

OTTAWA — Gun control could wind up being a defining issue in next year’s federal election.

Eighteen months ahead of the vote, both the governing party and the official Opposition are laying the groundwork for making guns a wedge issue, to carve away a share of each other’s softer support. The Liberals are aiming at cities and suburbs, while the Conservatives focus on rural and remote ridings.

Justin Trudeau fired the first shot with Bill C-71, his Liberal government’s recently tabled effort to tighten Canada’s firearms law, including enhanced background checks for obtaining a firearms licence and mandatory record-keeping for vendors.

To Conservatives and gun advocates, it all smacks too much of the long-reviled long-gun registry — a creation of Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government that is credited with taking away the seats of a number of Liberal MPs, particularly in rural areas. It was abolished by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

But the Liberals are hoping to turn the tables with a vigorous counteroffensive. They’re accusing the Conservatives of being shills for the gun lobby and they’re zeroing in on Andrew Scheer’s not-quite-forgotten leadership campaign platform, which was deleted from his website as soon as he took the helm of the Conservative party last May.

In a fundraising email last month, the Liberal party blasted the Conservatives for opposing the government’s “common sense” measures while pointing out that Scheer’s platform included pledges to “increase gun magazine capacity and cut red tape for gun purchases.”

“They’re taking orders from Canada’s NRA,” the missive said, referring to the politically powerful National Rifle Association in the U.S.

In a similar vein, Ottawa Liberal MP Mona Fortier last week asked the federal ethics watchdog to investigate Conservative MP Michelle Rempel for accepting birthday gifts from Tracey Wilson, a registered lobbyist for the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights. Her request was accompanied by a copy of a video of a thrilled Rempel opening the gifts — two CCFR T-shirts, a gift certificate for a Highlander Tactical pistol holder and a hot pink pistol carrying case.

Fortier argued that the gifts could be seen as an attempt to influence Rempel in the performance of her duties, in violation of the Conflict of Interest Code. Dion wrote Fortier last week to inform her that he will conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter to determine if a full-scale investigation is warranted.

Rempel’s office told The Canadian Press that the gifts were returned to Wilson early this month.