The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Churchill MP Niki Ashton, who shocked constituents by supporting the long-gun registry last fall, was a no-show for the vote that finally ended the controversial databank. Parliament passed third reading of a registry-scrapping bill last week by a margin of 159 to 130. Ashton, a New Democrat, was among 18 MPs who did not vote. The vote marked the end of a bitter battle to trash a program supporters see as a useful crime-fighting tool but which opponents view as a costly and pointless intrusion. Rob Clarke, the Conservative MP for Creighton and Denare Beach, voted with his party to toss out the registry. Two New Democrats from rural ridings, Bruce Hyer and John Rafferty, voted with the Tories. The bill is now expected to clear the Senate, where the Conservatives have a majority, and receive royal assent. At that point, the RCMP will erase the massive database of long-gun owners across Canada. Last November, Ashton voted to maintain the registry, reversing her long-standing position against the program. She argued that Quebec needs the database records for its planned provincial registry. 'It is ironic that the Conservatives have said the registry was a waste of money,' she said in a news release. See 'Regis...' on pg. 9 Continued from pg. 7 'Now they are forcing Quebec to pay even more money to put in place a provincial registry.' Ashton did have a long history of opposing the registry even as most NDP MPs favoured keeping the Chr_tien era program. She first voted with the Tories to scrap the registry in November 2009. 'Problematic' 'Obviously the registry is something that's been really problematic for our region, and I've expressed my concerns with it from day one,' she told The Reminder at the time. 'Given the chance to vote on something I've heard such (negative) feedback on, I'll be voting to get rid of it based on those concerns.' Ashton again voted against the registry in September 2010, when the program was preserved by a razor-thin margin in parliament. 'I continue to believe that the registry does not work for our region,' Ashton told The Reminder prior to that vote. Even when the Liberals proposed amendments to make the registry more palatable to rural Canada, Ashton stressed the registry still did not work for her riding. The Liberals had promised to reform the registry with changes that include the elimination of fees for new licenses and renewals, and doling out fines, not criminal charges, to those who initially fail to register their weapons. In Quebec, the province where Ashton launched her NDP leadership bid last year, there exists widespread support for the registry. She could not be reached for comment about her absence from last week's vote.
