Canadian Socialists and the Politics of Guns

You’ll also know that most commentators (including many who are usually friendly to the Liberals) have either scoffed at Trudeau’s gushy sentimentalism or scratched their heads and wondered “whatever that means”.
It would be easy to make fun of Trudeau’s airiness, the intellectual fluffiness of his election platform, the marshmallow meaninglessness of his latest promise. But the bigger issue is: Will his romance-novel rhetoric win votes?

That’s not so obvious.

Both Trudeau and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair are going after the same voters in this campaign – middle-class suburbanites who may be worried about the trajectory of the economy and who have grown exasperated with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s prickly-pear demeanour.

Neither opposition politician will unseat the Tories unless he and his party is able to assure middle-class voters they are a safe choice to lead the country through what may be four uncertain years.

At present, like him or not, Harper has the safe-choice vote sown up.
That is why “Angry Tom Mulcair” has screwed on a perpetual grin and jettisoned his NDP’s usual class-envy tone.

It’s why Trudeau is channeling his feminine side and sounding like the kind of man he thinks appeals to book-club soccer moms.

Despite the sniggering about Trudeau’s gossamer-thin economic policy, there really isn’t much to distinguish the Liberals and New Democrats on growth, taxation or aid to the middle-class.
Both are basing their platforms on fairy tales.
It’s just that Trudeau sounds sillier giving voice to his.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/08/15/trudeau-and-mulcair-selling-a-fantasy-to-the-middle-class

NDP government would revive gun registry, Tom Mulcair says

Tom Mulcair says a New Democrat government would revive the long-gun registry, minus the flaws that made the original registry so controversial.

The NDP leader says his party is committed to ensuring police have the ability to track firearms.

But it’s still working out the details of how to do that without running into the problems that plagued the Liberal-instituted registry that was scrapped by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.
Farmers and hunters strenuously objected to the registry, but Mulcair says requiring firearms to be registered is no different than the obligation to register a car or license a dog.
And he says duck hunters don’t need assault rifles, unless they’re planning to shoot a pterodactyl.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/03/ndp_government_would_revive_gun_registry_tom_mulcair_says.html

Mulcair wants 24/7 protection

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair is asking the RCMP to step up security for himself and his family, a request that should quickly be approved.

The Mounties are responsible for protecting political leaders and other officials in Ottawa. Mr. Mulcair first asked for 24-hour protection last Wednesday in the aftermath of the shootings on Parliament Hill, in which gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was shot dead after killing a military reservist and racing through the halls of Parliament with a loaded weapon.
The request was not immediately granted. Instead, the Leader of the Official Opposition was told police didn’t feel it was necessary, though they agreed to increase patrols past his official residence at Stornoway.

On Thursday Mr. Mulcair’s lawyer wrote directly to RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson repeating the request and asking for a formal response.

“We have been concerned for some time about the lack of security for Mr. Mulcair and his family, both at their official residence and elsewhere,” the letter said. “In light of the tragic events of yesterday, our concerns have increased.”

It asked for a reply by the next day, indicating the party would otherwise have to make its own arrangements. The force did not respond until prompted by a Postmedia News reporter calling for details, after which it promised a “threat assessment.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-if-thomas-mulcair-wants-247-protection-he-should-get-it