[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Grey Fox]

And, maybe, one more reason why we should leave them.

Well, there are plenty, but it's pretty much a deadend politically speaking.  Besides, been there, done that, and all that stuff.  One referendum was enough for my lifetime.  Young ones like you should have one if they want to

Eh, I remember 95. Stood outside a polling place with a giant Non sign.

[viper37]

I was in the OUI committed for my university.

[crazy canuck]

New restrictions on handguns

[crazy canuck]

The Beaverton ran a great headline, " Canadian man furious at liberals for infringing his second amendment rights"

[Barrister]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/handguns-liberal-bill-1.6470554

So, somehow, I have become an office expert on firearms prosecutions in the last few years.  I'm doing a ton of them.

I really don't like gang members rolling down the streets with firearms.

But everything the Liberals are doing is window-dressing.  It will do nothing to stop the kind of gun violence that is actually happening on Canadian streets.  And it will go after legitimate Canadian gun owners.

Lets talk about handguns.  Handguns are already classified as restricted firearms in Canada.  So you not only have to get a firearms license (like all firearms), but then get a restricted firearms license.  Thats an 8 hour course for each level, plus passing a test.  Once you get a restricted firearms license, your handgun has to be under lock and key at all times unless at a shooting range - you certainly can't carry it, openly or concealed.

Or assault rifles.  There's no legal description of an assault rifle.  It's not a matter of "well a firearm that shoots at above a certain muzzle velocity is an assault rifle".  It mostly a matter of aesthetics - a long run that is all black and looks like it belongs in the military is classified as an "assault rifle".

Taking away firearms from those involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment - no opposition in theory to this of course.  But we already do this - anyone convicted of a crime of violence is potentially subject to a firearms prohibition under s. 110 of the Criminal Code.  So what exactly are they doing differently here?  I'd need to see details.

And even worse the ban on magazines of more than 5 rounds.  I fully support this - except we already have such a ban.  WTF are the Libs doing differently?

Maybe the timing is purely co-incidental, but it does have the aroma of being a knee-jerk reaction to a purely American tragedy in Uvalde Texas.


Look - the typical firearm on one of my files is probably a sawed-off .22 rifle, closely followed by a sawed-off shotgun.  Both of which are prohibited by virtue of being sawed-off.  So if you wanted to ban firearms entirely it would help get rid of the gang members having such guns.  But then you'd run into the serious problem that .22s and shotguns are legitimately used by hunters (including indigenous subsistence hunters) and farmers/ranchers.

When it comes to handguns, I think I've seen one handgun on my files ever.  And of course the guy didn't have a restricted license.


Honestly, the best thing the Liberal government could do from my perspective is ignore firearms and ban airsoft guns.

[viper37]

New restrictions on handguns

except for the ban on imports, it amounts to nothing since it's already the law of the land.

You can't buy a handgun for self defence.  Well, you can, but only 2 people in Canada have guns for self defence, so it's like it's easy.

Police could already seize your firearms if you were deemed a threat to yourself or others, now, they have an extra layer to go through, so victims are less protected than before.

still no money to provinces for their police forces, still no money allocated to border security, people come & go as they please through an unchecked border with their guns bought in the US, juste like the last few mass shootings we had.

But hey, let's make it harder for the honest citizen to buy a handgun, all will be solved.  Just like long that gun registry.  Oh, how well it worked.

[viper37]

Maybe the timing is purely co-incidental, but it does have the aroma of being a knee-jerk reaction to a purely American tragedy in Uvalde Texas.

Knee-jerk?  From the Libs?  Say it ain't so!

[Barrister]

except for the ban on imports, it amounts to nothing since it's already the law of the land.

As I understand it this is new.  You can no longer buy or sell handguns.  So let's say you have a handgun - you can't sell it to anyone.  You can't buy a new handgun.  You're stuck with it.

[Barrister]

Interesting article about Alberta's financial situation.  In the budget announced this spring we had a $500 mil surplus, the first surplus in years.  But this expert thinks next year the surplus could be $10 billion next year.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/next-alberta-premier-decision-royalty-revenue-1.6472980

Now obviously part of the reason is the huge increase in the price of oil.  But another big part of it is the oilsands facilities are now "mature" - they've paid off their huge initial capital costs and are now paying much more in royalties even at lower oil prices.  This was not something I was aware of until reading this article.

Back in the 1980s there were bumper stickers seen in Alberta that read something like "Please God, give me one more oil boom. I promise not to piss it all away next time."  Not sure if it's apocryphal, but it's one those things that should be true even if it isn't.

https://twitter.com/edmontonjournal/status/1124341105556901890?lang=en

By my count Alberta has had at least 2 oil booms in the past.  The first was in the 1970s, the second in the 2000s, and now maybe again in the 2020s.  During the 1970s money was saved in the Heritage Savings Trust Fund.  In the 2000s we really just spent it.  So now what will we do with it?

[viper37]

So now what will we do with it?

Give it to the Federal government?

[Barrister]

So now what will we do with it?

Give it to the Federal government?

 

[viper37]

So now what will we do with it?

Give it to the Federal government?

 

[Rex Francorum]

They should save it like in Norway. To prepare for the days without oil.

[viper37]

They should save it like in Norway. To prepare for the days without oil.

That'd be the sensible solution.  Instead, Alberta will spend it all by reducing taxes and when the oil drops, they'll whine that big bad Québec is the mean province preventing them from exploiting their resources.  And separatism will rise in the province, since the big bad Federal Government is taking all their money, paying for their pipelines and not given them equalization.

Come to think of it, I've heard this scenario before.

[Josephus]

So Ontario goes to the polls today to re-elect a majority Conservative government.