In its single-minded push to dismantle Canada's long-gun registry, the Harper government has always dismissed the pleas from Canada's chiefs of police to keep it, on the grounds the registry is used thousands of times a day and saves lives. The Harperites depict the chiefs as another group of elitists, or a cult, and reject their arguments. Until now, they have said rank-and-file police officers don't share their commanders' concerns. All that has changed with the beat-cops conservatives everywhere love so dearly coming out in solidarity with the chiefs and in support of a registry.
"Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry
From rank-and-file to chiefs, they dispute Tory argument that it is ineffective and too costly. Representing everyone from beat cops to chiefs, Canada’s main police groups are joining forces for the first time to try to stop the Harper government from killing the long-gun registry. The Conservatives argue that Canada’s police forces are divided on the need to save the registry and suggest that the leaders who support it are out of touch with front-line police officers. But the Canadian Police Association, which represents 41,000 officers across Canada, will share the stage at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police as part of a new campaign to save the registry. Charles Momy, president of the Canadian Police Association, said he wants to make it clear that his members stand “shoulder to shoulder” with their chiefs on the issue, two weeks after Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz derided the police leadership as a cult that pretends the long-gun registry saves lives."
link: Police groups join forces in support of long gun registry - The Globe and Mail
This has the potential to become an anchor around the Conservatives' necks. Someone, at the next election is going to say the law-and-order Harperites don't support police when it really matters. How the prime minister will explain his way out of this one will be interesting. Maybe its' What is obvious is that it's time for serious negotiations, as Michael Ignatieff has proposed, to find a a solution that will accommodate the wishes of those Canadians who want a simpler and less costly registry and the needs of all Canadians for a safer country.
