In recent weeks, gun violence in Toronto has become so prevalent that even the lefties who think that all of society’s problems can be solved with group hugs, can’t avoid the issue. When a recent spate of gun violence happened, that included the shooting of a 4-year-old boy outside of his home, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty swung into action. The premier, who has been lately speaking about "american guns on Canadian streets" said that he would discuss the matter of guns with the new american ambassador, David Wilkins.
The two men met and held a private meeting yesterday in Banff, alberta and McGuinty did raise the issue of american guns in Canada with Wilkins.
To those people who think that Canadians should take responsibility for Canadian crimes being committed on Canadian streets by Canadians, Dalton McGuinty picked a bad time to keep a promise. McGuinty had taken a page from the playbook of Toronto mayor David Miller who was the first politician whose jurisdiction includes Toronto to blame the americans for the increase in shootings and murders caused by the use of handguns. Miller, however can be somewhat excused for blaming the United States. Since he became the city’s mayor in November 2003, he has refused to take responsibility for anything that has gone wrong in the city. Nothing was ever his fault. It was the fault of the federal government, the provincial government or the lefties’ favourite whipping boy, the previous Conservative provincial government. Nothing particular should be read in to Miller’s blaming the United States for the current violence in Canada’s largest city.
Even though Dalton McGuinty is headed into the Guinness Book of Records for the most broken promises made by a politician, Ontarians still expected more from their premier than a weak attempt to pin the blame for Toronto’s current gun violence on americans and their guns. Unlike many of his Liberal Party brothers and sisters, Dalton McGuinty is not a hardcore america-basher. The fact that he held a private meeting on the subject right after a NaFTa ruling that found in Canada’s favour but may not be complied with by the United States does nothing to enhance the premier’s credibility with our neighbours to the south. Blaming the United States because Canadians are shooting other Canadians was a complete and utter waste of the american’s ambassador’s time, time that could have been better spent discussing serious issues like trade.
David Wilkins, diplomat that he is, said after the meeting that keeping american guns out of Canada is a "shared responsibility". The ambassador added that according to his information is that most american guns that make their way to Canada are brought into the country by Canadians. Hmm. It is doubtful that either McGuinty or Miller ever even thought of who is actually bringing these guns into the country.
after the private meeting was held, McGuinty made the absolutely inane comment that the U.S. Congress is not likely to ban handguns any time soon. Well, so much for Canada trying to pawn off our problems on another country. It’s just as well that the U.S. is not going to ban guns. If Congress brought in Canadian-style gun control, could Canadian-style health care be far behind? and if that happened the two countries would be virtually identical. Canadian culture, which primarily consists of the fact that we are not the United States will disappear. We might as well just invite al-Qaeda over and bomb us into oblivion.
In the end, it really doesn’t matter whether guns are brought into this country by Canadians or americans or Martians. Canadians and their politicians have to take responsibility for what is happening on our streets.
McGuinty would be much further ahead if he concentrated his efforts on fighting crime and securing our border instead of putting on a show for the anti-american crowd.