If the former Liberal premier of Quebec is elected, he will “show his true colours” with his views on gun control, warns the Canadian Sports Shooting Association (CSSA)..CSSA Executive Director Tony Bernardo says Jean Charest can be counted on “to continue the relentless assault the Liberals have waged against us for the last 25 years” if elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC)..Bernardo, in a CSSA special report, said he’s basing his assessment on Charest’s historical record and goes on to highlight a timeline in the report. .In 1991, Charest was a cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney’s government. He fully supported then Justice Minister Kim Campbell’s Bill C-17, which gave the Justice Minister the power to prohibit any firearm the government deemed undesirable..Bill Blair used the powers Charest supported to ban more than 1,500 makes and models of firearms on May 1, 2020..On June 13, 1995, Charest wasn’t even present in the House of Commons for the vote on the hated Bill C-68, now the Firearms Act..In 1998, Charest became the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party where he immediately opened fire on Quebec’s lawful firearms community, fighting for harsher “gun control” measures..In 2007, Quebec Premier Charest introduced Bill 9, which imposed tougher controls on the use of firearms in the province..“No one can legislate human folly. But if we can take action to prevent such events, we should,” said Charest..Charest wore a pink ribbon when he visited Dawson College to announce the law, which also bans guns from public and school transport..“Someone who does not comply with this ban will have to pay a very high fine of as much as $5,000. Those weapons will be seized immediately without a warrant and will be confiscated,” Charest said..Of course, Charest’s Bill 9 was praised as “a good first step” by Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control..In 2011, as Premier of Quebec, Charest instigated Quebec’s legal battle to retain Canada’s failed Long Gun Registry data after it was removed by Stephen Harper’s conservative government..The Liberal premier called the federal government’s plan to destroy gun registry records “unacceptable.”.“Common sense says if the data exists, it’s there, it could help save lives and we should preserve it,” Charest said, adding, “There’s no reason to destroy it.” .“We will use every means at our disposal, which we deem useful, to let Quebec’s point of view be known.”.Bernardo warns CPC members he believes Charest is “not middle-of-the-road” on firearms and called him a “screaming left-wing anti-firearm politician.”.“Expect that during this leadership campaign, Jean Charest will lie to you about firearms ownership,” said Bernardo..“Indeed, if he follows his hard-core Liberal roots, he will lie to you about everything. Deeds speak louder than words and Charest has already displayed his true colours.”.Charest was asked by the WesternStandard about his position on firearms, during his Thursday campaign launch in Calgary.. WATCH: CSSA says Charest ‘no friend to firearm owners’ in CanadaJean Charest in Calgary for launch of CPC leadership campaign – photo by Dave Naylor, Western Standard .He deflected responsibility onto Quebec police and said they wanted to keep long-gun registry information rather than destroy it..“The police forces in Quebec are the ones who said if you’re going to do away with the registry, why don’t you just transfer over to us the information that’s there. That’s the long and short of it,” said Charest..Meanwhile, the Western Standard also asked Charest about his stance on the federal government’s carbon tax..“We need a very, very comprehensive approach that includes policies that are going to promote economic growth and make sense by themselves,” Charest said..Charest mentioned technologies such as carbon capture and storage, blue and green hydrogen, small modular reactors, hydro and biofuels as options to focus on..“Those are the things we need to be smart about and I’m very committed to designing a policy that is going to be good and will deal with transition.”.Before becoming an MP for the riding of Sherbrooke in 1984, Charest was a practicing lawyer. After serving in several federal cabinet positions, he went on to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1994 to 1998 until he entered provincial politics and was elected leader of the Quebec Liberal Party..Charest then served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and resumed his law practice after leaving his political life in 2012..Charest joins the CPC leadership race alongside Ottawa-Carleton MP Pierre Poilivre and Haldimand-Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis..Independent MPP for Toronto’s York Centre, Roman Baber, also announced his candidacy and current Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is expected to officially enter the race Sunday..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
