Well, this isn’t good
March 30, 2012 | 10 Comments
It seems a Tory MP got into a little (alleged) hot water after a recent visit to an Ottawa high school:
Garry Breitkreuz, the Tory MP best known for his campaign to repeal the long-gun registry, denies an Ottawa woman’s claim that he was “promoting gun violence” during a recent speech to her daughter’s high school class.
“This is completely unfounded,” the veteran Saskatchewan politician said Thursday after the matter was raised in the House of Commons.
…
Here, according to Sakisheway, are a few snippets of what, according to her daughter, Breitkreuz told the class: “He said he wanted to get rid of the registry because he thinks everyone should have the right to own a gun. If everyone here in Canada carried a gun, it would be safer for people. (The government) should make it easier to access guns so people can protect themselves.’”
Breitkreuz also supposedly illustrated his arguments with “what if” stories. For instance, he presented the students with a scenario in which a group of eight people confronts a robber with a gun. He suggested it would be better if one of the eight possessed a gun and shot the robber before he had a chance to harm anyone.
The MP also told the students about a study in a community in the United States where there was a high incidence of rape. In an effort to deal with the situation, local authorities offered guns and training to local women. The program was widely publicized — at least 200 women had been trained and armed — and incidents of rape then dropped sharply.
I certainly don’t know who is correct here. Without further evidence, there’s no way to know who is telling the truth. Nonetheless, Tory MPs might want to tread a little lightly, lest they look even more like cowboys.
Comments
10 Responses to “Well, this isn’t good”
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March 30th, 2012 @ 4:43 pm
Why am I not shocked that the complaint came from a parent of a cantebury student.
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:20 am
It makes it all the more delicious, doesn’t it?
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Mike Reply:
April 6th, 2012 at 7:38 am
I does for me.
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April 2nd, 2012 @ 10:53 am
I’m genuinely at a loss: who *is* more trustworthy, an elected Member of Parliament or a 14-year-old girl?
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April 3rd, 2012 @ 11:55 am
Actually, the choice is between an M.P. and what an idignant mother says her 14 year old told her using teenager language. Lucky for him she was busy on Facebook and wasn’t listening when he called for universal government subsidized AK-47s.
The answer is obvious. If it’s a Con M.P., we take the word of the child. Otherwise for other parties.
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April 3rd, 2012 @ 12:13 pm
On the other hand, what’s exactly wrong with an MP presenting their political viewpoints in a discussion with teenagers?
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:21 am
There’s not necessarily anything wrong with it, in theory. I just wonder if the Conservatives need to try to come off as a little less gun-loving.
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R. Mowat Reply:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:29 am
Well, sure, but (like the Abortion issue) no matter how few Conservative MPs rant about guns, they will always find their way to a headline.
Still, the gun-toting part may subside in the coming years, since the registry is done.
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April 3rd, 2012 @ 6:32 pm
Nothing, I would have thought. But in line with my theory that the left has become completely rectionary, doesn’t this story have the feel of an old-style conservative from the late fifties protesting indignantly because someone addressed his/her child’s class on the subject of sexual hygiene?
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April 4th, 2012 @ 4:08 pm
It does have a whiff of that, I agree.
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