Landowners target MPs and police association on gun registry vote

By Ontario Landowners Association —— Bio and Archives September 16, 2010

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The Ontario Landowners’ Association (OLA) is taking direct aim at waffling MPs and the Canadian Police Association (CPA) during the final days leading up to the Sept 22nd vote in the House of Commons to retain or abolish the long-gun registry. “The OLA likes words such as “accountability” and “advocacy” said OLA President Jack MacLaren. “We see the current support for the long-gun registry among opposition MPs as just another example of their contempt for Canada’s rural residents – and we intend to hold MPs to account by targeting their prospects for re-election, and, in the case of the CPA, by hitting their wallets.”

The OLA has identified the handful of rural Ontario MPs who have indicated that they will no longer support abolition of the long-gun registry on Sept 22nd, even though they did so during previous votes. The OLA will remind voters in those ridings that their MP’s first duty – to represent the interests of their constituents – should take precedence over any obligation to the party leadership. “Let’s be clear about this” said MacLaren. “The long-gun registry was implemented for one reason: to get votes in the urban areas. Gun ownership per capita is much higher among rural Canadians, but the Liberals decided that urban votes were more important than rural rights. Twenty years later and they still have the same philosophy. Ignatieff has ordered his MPs to fall in line, . Ignatieff has ordered his MPs to fall in line, and, some of the NDP who previously supported getting rid of the registry are changing their colours now. On September 22nd we will see which ones decide to represent their constituents and how many prefer to be turncoats” said MacLaren. And as for the Canadian Police Association(CPA) – which publicly supported retention of the long-gun registry – the OLA is using another tactic. “The CPA’s support for the registry really disappointed us” said MacLaren. “Farmers, hunters and gun-owners have traditionally been the strongest supporters of our police forces, and to have the police unions sticking their noses in on this issue amounts to a betrayal of trust. So over the next few months, we (OLA) will be contacting companies and organizations that advertised in the CPA’s 2010 Yearbook and telling them that OLA members would not be in a position to support them should they run their ads again in 2011.” The OLA has 17,000 members in 22 Landowner Associations across Ontario.