Not entirely evil

When a government does something worth acknowledging, it should be acknowledged.

This is one of those times.  Actually, last Wednesday was one of those times.

If you are lucky enough to be somewhere near where beer brewed by Le Naufrageur can be purchased, this is good news.

Good news indeed.

Jesus wept: Harper Tories use the birth of the Baby Jesus for political cover

Anybody who has spent any time watching official Ottawa pretend to communicate knows that government insiders believe that that the best way to make a messaging problem go away is to make it public late in the day on a Friday.  Late on a Friday before a long weekend tends to be reserved for the worst possible stories.

That would make releasing bad news on the Friday afternoon that also happens to be Christmas Eve to be the highest achievement in publicly avoiding public accountability.

So what could the Harper Tory braintrust possibly feel is so bad that they they needed to us the birth of the Baby Jesus for political cover?

Not arming specialized Canadian Border Services Agency officers participating law enforcement operations against organized crime.

It's absurd.  The Harper Tory government budgeted almost $800 million dollars to arm border officers who fortunately have only had need to shoot an injured moose.

But the Harper Tories won't let uniformed CBSA officers taking part in raids to help keep illegal drugs and trafficked guns out of Canada's neighbourhoods - raids where those officers must wear a bullet resistant vest for their own safety - carry a side arm.

Worse, the Harper Tory government has ordered trained CBSA officers not to participate in these important efforts to combat organized crime.

It's hard to imagine anything other than choruses of "Can't someone else do it" being heard echoing down the hall from the Cabinet room as the Harper Tories made this decision.

Merry Christmas anyway.

Harper Tory MP reveals secret agenda on gun control or just doesn't understand what he's talking about

In a year-end interview, Saskatchewan Harper Tory MP David Anderson highlighted his disappointment with the his government's failure to pass a long gun registry bill.

Anderson: I think there are some things we're going to continue to work on. Some of them aren't just a one-year issue. Obviously, the gun registry vote this year didn't go the way we would have liked to see it. That issue has not gone away. I've recently met with the gun community in Saskatchewan here and they want us to continue the fight. They think the gun legislation is unreasonable. I think it is too and I think the way it's being enforced in some areas is unreasonable as well. We'll continue to work on that.

Anderson agrees with the gun lobby that gun registry enforcement is unreasonable.

There is no real enforcement. The government David Anderson is a member of introduced an amnesty protecting unregistered long gun owners in 2006.  That amnesty has been in place for almost five years now. 

So what the hell is Anderson talking about?

Maybe its part of the Harper Tory hidden agenda.

Today's Canadian gun lobby news

Gun lobby endorsed lawyer to defend accused in Timmins IED case.

Aislin the Montreal Gazette psychic

Famed Montreal Gazette political cartoonist Aislin seems to know something about Larry Smith that Canadians are now doomed entitled to discover.

Self defence gifts for the War on Christmas

The National Rifle Association wants you and your family to have a happy, safe and prepared Christmas.

Happy families should put these wonderful presents under the Christmas tree next to the NRA's gifts to terrorists and Mexican drug cartels.

Merry Christmas anyway.

Harper Tories wrong about guns (yet again)

When the Harper Tory Government ignored RCMP pleas to more effectively regulate gun shows, they justified their deliberate inaction by parroting the the Canadian gun lobby's rhetoric about why gun shows are not a problem.

Consultation

Firearms advocates, including the Minister’s Firearms Advisory Committee, are of the view that the Regulations are unnecessary given that the majority of gun show sponsors and exhibitors meet the safety requirements set out in the Regulations and that most sponsors voluntarily inform the CFO that a show is taking place (to facilitate the transfer [sale] of firearms).

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Canadian gun show sponsors and exhibitors generally comply with the safety requirements of the Gun Shows Regulations. There are also provisions in force under the Firearms Act respecting the storage, display, transportation and handling of firearms that apply to both businesses and individuals participating in gun shows. While the RCMP would support implementing the Regulations, from a risk management perspective, Canadian gun shows are not considered a significant public safety concern.

Anecdotal evidence sugegsts that gun show sponsors and exhibitors generally comply with the law.

Except when they don't.

Two Ontario men are facing numerous weapons-related charges after a joint-effort arrest by various law-enforcement agencies at a Brandon gun show earlier this month.

The men, who are 70 and 71 years old, were arrested Dec. 12 at the Brandon Gun and Hobby Show without incident. Members of the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program, the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) and the Brandon Police Service were all involved in the arrest.

A day later, a search warrant was executed in Dryden, Ont., where the arrested men -- one of whom is a licensed firearms dealer -- reside. Members of the Ontario Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit, NWEST and the Dryden Police Service seized numerous weapons.

In all, police said over 100 firearms of all types -- from handguns, to muzzle-loading and automatic -- were seized along with about 50 prohibited switchblade-type knives. In addition, ammunition, cash and firearms registries related to the dealer's business were also seized.

The seizures were made both in Brandon and Dryden.

Police said the seizure included prohibited firearms as well as improperly registered or obtained guns.

The two men are facing numerous criminal charges and are scheduled to appear in court both in Brandon and Dryden.

Police are not releasing the men's names until charges are formally laid.

Most Canadians would expect gun show organizers to make sure that nothing illegal is being sold at the show they are organizing. The Harper Tories don't.

Most Canadians would expect that the government would do everything it could to fight illegal gun trafficking. The Harper Tories won't.

But then, the gun lobby Harper Tories aren't like most Canadians.

Who's side are the Hudak Tories on?

Turns out that the Hudak Tories stand four square on the side of those convicted of making illegal machine guns and removing firearms serial numbers.

Sure would be embarrassing if this got out.

Ignatieff wins the war on Christmas

In the spirit of Bill O'Reilly's feared war on Christmas, let's take a moment to consider the actions of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition over the last few days.

Heck, let's make it simpler.

Let's consider the songs they sang at their respective holiday events.

Stephen Harper sang old pop songs.

Michael Ignatieff, umm, sang a song with the word Christmas in it.

Ignatieff wins the war on Christmas in a unanimous decision.

Harper Tories fail British Columbians on gun, gang violence

As another high profile shooting in Vancouver draws politicians' attention to gun violence on the west coast, a simple question needs to be asked.

What have the BC and federal governments done to implement the recommendations of the expert report on the illegal movement of firearms in British Columbia?

We already know that the Harper Tory government hasn't moved forward on firearms marking as recommended by this BC government report (see page 45-46).

What else have the Harper Tories not done to make Vancouver's streets safer?

Guess who's marking

OAS and El Salvador Sign Agreement on Firearms Marking

Canada?

Not so much.

Misleading the House and ignoring the problem

As Canada's Foreign Minister prepares to host his Mexican and American counterparts just north of Ottawa to discuss security issues, an opportunity presents itself to look at issues our North American partners consider to be important.

Gun trafficking is, understandably, of great concern to Mexico.

In fact, it is such a large concern that when conservative Mexican President Filipe Calderon addressed Congress, he asked the United States to help Mexico fight this scourge.

So what has Canada done to fight international gun trafficking?

Last week, the Harper Tory government indicated that it would ignore treaties that fight international gun smuggling for yet another two years.

To do so, the Harper Tory government put off making firearms importers mark guns to help police identify crime gun trafficking and, in turn, shut down those traffickers.

Last week, the BQ and the Liberals asked questions about this delay.  As they were on the gun registry debate, the NDP was again nowhere.

More interesting was the Harper Tory Government's response to those questions.

John Baird told Parliament that Canadian law already requires all firearms to be marked.

Baird was either misinformed or lying.  Canadian law does require all firearms to be individually registered.

We all know what the Harper Tories think about registration.

More troublingly, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told Parliament that Liberal MP Marlene Jennings had misled MPs when she told them that in 2004 the Bush Republicans admitted that they were doing exactly what the Harper Tories, six years later, refuse to do.

Toews told MPs that anybody looking at the UN website would find that the Bush Republicans had not implemented firearms marking.

The UN website that highlights firearms marking practice reveals that the Bush administration, despite its hostility to the UN, was marking firearms in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 (MS-Word doc).

We're not sure what UN website Vic Toews was looking at because the Bush Republican administration told the UN in 2008:

The United States views the marking of weapons as a critical element in combating the illicit trafficking of SA/LW (CfSR comment: firearms).  This includes marking at the point of manufacture as well as at the point of importation. 

So why does Vic Toews want Parliament to believe that the US is not marking firearms?

Could it be because the Harper Tories are doing the NRA's dirty work?