OTTAWA — A Conservative victory over scrapping the federal long-gun registry could be reversed in the House of Commons as early as next week, but will more likely languish through the summer.
Candice Hoeppner’s private members’ bill won rare passage-in-principle last November after gaining the support of eight northern or rural Liberal MPs, and a dozen New Democrats.
But the bill to end the decade-old registry of shotguns and hunting rifles has faced emphatic opposition by groups ranging from police associations to emergency doctors, suicide prevention workers and some provincial governments.
Liberal Mark Holland will table a motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday that would stop the legislation dead in its tracks, but it’s unclear whether the motion will come to a vote before Parliament’s summer recess.
The motion has already been approved by the opposition majority on the Commons public safety committee, against the wishes of the Tory minority.
It states that Bill C-391 should proceed no further “because the committee has heard sufficient testimony that the bill will dismantle a tool that promotes and enhances public security and the safety of Canadian police officers.”
Hoeppner and other Conservatives say they plan to put tremendous pressure on Liberal and New Democrat MPs who voted in favour of killing the registry last year not to reverse themselves.