Hi Olivia,
Thanks for your response.
While I am currently a resident of your constituency, I was born and raised in Northern Ontario. Fishing and hunting are both a part of my heritage. My grandfather taught my mother and my uncles and both generations taught me the process and ritual of hunting. I intend to teach my children the same as a way of preserving the memories of what previous generations needed to do in order to survive in Northern Ontario.
In this day and age it is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to traditions and practices of the past. The recent passing of my grandfather resulted in my being bequeathed a 303 Lee-Enfield that he had reconditioned and customized as his own personal hunting rifle. This heirloom means a great deal to me but, without kneeling to the process of a gun registry that I don’t believe in due to sky-rocketing costs and poor management, I am unable to have that important piece of family history in my home without fear of being called a criminal and being charged because that piece of my property is not registered. Instead I am extorted to pay fees, simply to stay out of jail if ever questioned about my possessions.
I agree that all owners of firearms must be licensed in order to ensure that owners understand proper storage and handling of their long guns. I also agree that all hunters need to be properly trained to ensure humane treatment of animals and responsible hunting practices.
The long gun registry, in its current format, does nothing to help law enforcement deal with gun violence in urban areas, saves but a few moments worth of time per year in catching assailants who use gun violence domestically, and costs a ridiculous amount of money. There is no benefit to me as a taxpayer. There is no benefit to me as a gun owner. Do you honestly think that the perpetrators of urban gun violence are registering their firearms?
If you and Jack Layton want to do something useful, help to scrap this useless and expensive political jockeying tool and do something about the laws that would actually deter gun violence. For instance, if we had a Zero Tolerance policy with mandatory jail time for all possession of restricted weapons (outside of law enforcement) we could start to affect change on the streets.
Get tougher on thugs who carry guns for the purposes of violence, not guys like me, who are upstanding citizens who want to carry on family traditions, or folks who live in rural areas and keep long guns for safety and food provisioning purposes.
To date you have not supported my views in this matter and the NDP is playing politics (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/trumpeting-rural-roots-ndp-predicts-tory-defeat-on-gun-registry/article1710105/) rather than helping to affect the change that I, as a member of your constituency who has supported you consistently, have voiced as a strong opinion.
I suggest that you focus on one this one issue without clouding it with other, unrelated pieces. There is no evidence of an increase in male on female violence in homes that have unregistered long guns. Whatever Michael Ignatieff does is of no consequence to this discussion. If rural NDP MPs are unsupportive of their constituent’s views on this issue they should be replaced by candidates who represent their communities.
The right thing to do is to scrap the gun registry and stop playing politics.
N
Nathan Greene
—–Original Message—–
From: Chow.O@parl.gc.ca
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 7:34 PM
To: Greene, Nathan
Subject: RE: Gun Registry
Dear Nathan,
Thank you for taking the time to write to me about the long gun registry.
My commitment to end gun violence has been consistent and clear. I have always voted in Parliament to support the gun registry. When I was on Toronto City Council and on the Police Services Board I worked closely with Susan Eng and Wendy Cukier of the Gun Control Coalition to ban guns in Toronto. Since December 6, 1989 I have been unwavering in my commitment to battle male violence against females, in both my volunteer work at the December 6 Fund and my teaching position with George Brown College’s Assaulted Women and Children Advocacy and Counselling Program.
However, there is another perspective urban Canadians like me must confront and understand. I was in the North West Territories last week and I heard many stories of what the gun registry means to Aboriginal people and to those who farm or are from rural parts of Canada.
At a meeting with the Status of Women Council in Yellowknife, Angela of the Dene Nation told me how she wants her two sons to be hunters, just like her father. She also shared that unless her dad goes hunting she cannot afford milk and meat for her kids. Surely registering long guns doesn’t mean taking them away, I asked. Angela, with her voice breaking, said that it takes three months to register a gun and during this time they are not allowed to use it. She asked me how her family is supposed to eat during this time, why the white men are always telling the Aboriginal people what to do, and treating them as criminals if they don’t obey.
Everywhere I travelled in those three days, people of the First Nations asked why we want to take away their way of life, their means of existence, and if we hadn’t already damaged their lives enough.
This is why as New Democrats, we want to focus on a new approach: an amended gun registry that accommodates rural, northern and Aboriginal concerns, and gives the power to municipalities like Toronto to ban hand guns in Toronto, which cause much more death and violence in big cities.
Unfortunately, instead of building bridges between urban and rural Canada,
Stephen Harper is using the gun registry issue in an attempt to get his majority by eliminating New Democrat MPs that represent rural ridings and replacing them with Conservatives, one-issue (guns) candidates. We must not allow him to do this. Instead f falling into Harper’s trap and playing politics with such a divisive issue, Michael Ignatieff should be assisting our rural NDP MPs to battle the Conservatives. Training the guns on urban MPs like me, who have consistently supported gun control, will not gain any extra points with rural NDP MPs. I note that Michael Ignatieff, at his public meeting in Yellowknife on September 8, did not dare to mention the importance of saving the gun registry, nor did he take any questions from the public.
Liberals have voted 120 times with the Conservatives on continuing the war on Afghanistan, on the expansion of tar sands, on abortion and on Conservative budgets that give the most to the rich, and the least to those living in poverty. New Democrats do not need any lectures from Michael Ignatieff Liberals on principles.
There is no good reason why Parliament shouldn’t be able to work together and forge a solution that brings rural and urban Canadians together on gun control, while maintaining the long gun registry. Jack Layton and the New Democrat team will continue to work towards this goal. It’s the right thing to do.
Thanks again for taking the time to write to me.
Sincerely,
Olivia Chow, MP
NDP critic for Citizenship and Immigration, Child Care, Child Poverty, and Public Transit
www.oliviachow.ca
________________________________
From: Greene, Nathan
Sent: June 8, 2010 6:26 PM
To: Chow, Olivia – M.P.
Subject: Gun Registry
Hi Olivia,
It was nice to meet you in person on the weekend.
Once again, as one of your constituents, I ask that you vote to scrap the gun registry when the time comes:
N
Nathan Greene
