Cabinet attempts to save its latest gun bill are a “delicate conversation,” according to Government House Leader Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering, ON). The bill introduced eight months ago faces stiff opposition in the Commons public safety committee..“We are having conversations over the last month with stakeholders on both sides,” Holland told reporters. “This is a very emotionally charged issue.”.Bill C-21 An Act To Amend Certain Acts was introduced in the Commons last May 30 as a purported ban on new sales of licensed handguns. Cabinet on November 24 proposed sweeping amendments to further ban “a firearm that is a rifle or shotgun that is capable of discharging centre fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner.”.The Department of Public Safety acknowledged the amendments would prohibit models of commonly used hunting and sports shooting rifles. “This is a very emotionally charged issue,” said Holland..“We want to make sure that we get weapons that were involved in mass casualty events, weapons that are, you know, used to do mass killings off the streets, and at the same time we want to make sure that we don’t interfere with those that have hunting as a way of life and a passion,” said Holland..“Timelines?” asked a reporter. “We have to work with the other parties,” replied Holland. “You know this isn’t solely ours to do.”.“You still don’t know what the timeline is?” asked a reporter. “What it says is this is a very difficult, emotional, difficult issue,” replied Holland..“If I’ve learned anything from all the discussions that we’ve had over the last 20 years about firearms that I’ve been involved in Parliament is that you need to move deliberately and you need to engage stakeholders and it takes time,” said Holland. “You have to have patience.”.Conservative and New Democrat MPs oppose the amended Bill C-21. A majority of the public safety committee last December 13 voted to block attempts to speed passage of the bill and instead proposed a series of cross-country public hearings this spring..New Democrat MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan-Malahat, BC) said initial support for Bill C-21 had evaporated due to cabinet’s amendment to broaden its scope. “Some members of my caucus had not received one single piece of correspondence until this amendment dropped and now it’s making up half their correspondence,” said MacGregor..“In politics as in life trust is easily broken but it’s extremely hard to repair,” said MacGregor. “The way this amendment landed has frankly been a complete and total abuse of process.”
