OP/ED: Ignatieff blunders compounded
By Rob Leggett
Iggy…Iggy…Iggy… What are you thinking?
Hurt by condemnation that his party had deserted the gun control measures it initially put in place, and still stinging from an abortion gaffe that saw Liberal MPs break ranks and divulge that his party is less pro-choice than it acts, Michael Ignatieff has decided he won’t make the same mistake again.
A private member’s bill to eliminate the long-gun registry will soon be up for the third and final vote, and Ignatieff has proclaimed that this time, he’ll whip his caucus to make certain that all Liberals vote to keep the registry.
It seems that Ignateiff feels that by getting rid of the renewal fees gun owners pay and having ‘failure to register’ no longer a criminal violation for first-time offenders, he has made concessions that will permit him to harness his caucus while still being perceived as a supporter of gun control.
He hasn’t.
Ignatieff’s arrangement won’t make a solitary Canadian safer and will only make the useless registry more costly, while at the same time making it weaker. The registry has already been unsuccessful and has succeeded only to estrange large groups of the electorate from the Liberal party.
One has to wonder as to why Ignatieff has chosen to whip his caucus on this issue now, but let them vote with their conscience earlier.
It is my belief that, after his humiliating loss on his personal motion to include abortion in the government’s G8 initiative to improve the health of mothers and children in the developing world, Ignatieff needs a win against the Conservatives.
What could be more embarrassing than having your own motion defeated because 16 of your own caucus either voted against it or failed to show up for the vote?
I am certain he feels that he will lose respect in the eyes of the voters if he cannot keep his party in check.
So, rather than making the same mistake, he’s going to make a brand new one.
Good for him!
At least if he keeps this kind of irrational politicking up, I won’t have to worry about a Liberal federal government any time soon.
