Conservative Party Set to Betray its Grass Roots?

The rumour mill has been churning strongly of late that the Conservatives are about to turn on their grass roots supporters over firearms issues. Since the Dawson College episode, there have been persistent rumours that Peter Mackay's side of the house has been pushing to ban semi-automatic firearms is order to conciliate to the Bloc and the NDP.

Today, new rumours from usually reliable sources are circulating that the announcment is imminent, and that firearms owner will be given no quarter to grandfather themselves, as occured in previous legislation. The target is believed to be all currently restricted semi-automatic long guns, with possible extension to some models of non-restricted semi-automatic long guns.

Such a move by the Conservative Party of Canada could destroy its broad based grass roots support, particularly in the west. Certainly, there are large Canadian grass roots organizations now positioned to drive local Conservative campaigns, and if the betrayal is as monumental as suspected, there will be a concerted effort to take the party out of the running in the next election.

After all, if betrayal has become the de-facto standard of all Canadian governments in power, Canadians might as well cosy up to the party that gives away the most, and that ain't the Conservatives.

The implications to troop morale in Afghanistan are incredible. Such a betrayal will destroy the morale of the boys over there. Their efforts, their lives, are being given to preserve the democratic principles of individual freedom and responsibility that have been a Canadian hallmark since its inception. Based on the ones I know personally in theatre, most of them clearly "get" the significance of a betrayal such as this - its been a significant topic of discussion already.

That the Conservatives might pull such a stunt around the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" is to commit the ultimate indecency to the memory and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of Canadians on the beaches of Normandy, of Ypres, Vimy, of Holland, France, North Africa, Italy.

If these rumours come to pass, the name "Canada" will cease to have any meaning whatsoever. Reduced to a giggling backwater by the Liberals, a faint hope existed in a fragile Conservative government that the phoenix that was Canada might rise again. A betrayal of the magnitude that is rumoured to be impending will signal that Canada has become ungovernable. All that will remain will be to pick the bones of the carcass, to squabble over the distribution of its resources, for at its core, there will be nothing left.