Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals are launching a counter-attack on the Conservatives, asking for donations to build a targeted radio campaign of their own to support their bid to preserve the controversial gun registry.
“Barely 48 hours after Michael Ignatieff proposed sensible changes to make the long gun registry fairer and more effective, Stephen Harper has opened the Conservative war chest – and teamed up with the gun lobby – launching personal attacks against MPs and police who support gun control,” says a fundraising letter sent today by National Liberal Fund director Adam Smith.
Mr. Smith is asking for donations of $100 or $250 or less. He promises that anyone who contributes before midnight Monday will be sent a “special link” to a sneak peek of the ads. There is no indication of exactly when the ads will be released.
It was Mr. Ignatieff’s proposal to improve the registry and his vow to whip his caucus to support that set off the Tory torrent, including targeted Conservative radio ads in the ridings of the so-called “Liberal 8” – the eight MPs who voted with the government to support Tory MP Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to scrap the registry.
The Tory ads are designed to pressure the eight MPs to rebel against their leader and vote again to scrap the registry when the bill comes back for third reading, some time in May or June.
Mr. Smith, meanwhile, notes in his letter that Liberal MPs, who helped with this solution to the gun registry controversy, are now under fire by the Tories. They need support, he says.
“That’s why it’s critical that we respond with a targeted campaign of our own. Canadians need accurate information about the changes we’ve proposed, and the MPs under attack need to know that the Liberals from coast to coast to coast are standing behind them,” he writes.
Under the Liberal plan a first-time failure to register firearms would be treated as a non-criminal, ticketing offence. Currently, it is a criminal offence. As well, Mr. Ignatieff said a Liberal government would also permanently eliminate fees for new licenses, renewals and upgrades; they would also streamline the paperwork.
The full text of the fundraising letter follows:
[NAME REMOVED] --
Barely 48 hours after Michael Ignatieff proposed sensible changes to make the long gun registry fairer and more effective, Stephen Harper has opened the Conservative war chest – and teamed up with the gun lobby – launching personal attacks against MPs and police who support gun control. As the Liberal Party’s chief fundraiser, I need your help right now to fight back.
The attacks began as Conservative spokesman and Saskatchewan MP Gerry Breitkreuz compared Canada’s police chiefs to “members of a cult” who “should be ashamed of themselves” for defending the gun registry – a tool police officers use over 11,000 times each day in their work protecting public safety.
Close behind was a deluge of radio ads targeting Liberal MPs in rural ridings, spreading misinformation and questioning the integrity of our MPs for doing exactly what you and I elect our representatives to do – listen to their constituents and work to adapt the laws of the land in ways that find common ground.
Police across the country tell us that they rely on the gun registry. I believe them. Law abiding gun owners tell us the gun registry has problems in its current form and I believe them too. So we need a balanced solution and the Liberal proposal provides it. Now, our MPs who helped to create that solution are under fire and need our support.
That’s why it’s critical that we respond with a targeted ad campaign of our own. Canadians need accurate information about the changes we’ve proposed, and the MPs under attack need to know that Liberals from coast to coast to coast are standing behind them.
Please be a part of making these ads happen. Your donation of $100, $250, or whatever you can afford will contribute directly to this important campaign. And if we receive your donation online before midnight Monday, we’ll send you a special link to be among the very first to see the ads in the coming days.
The Conservatives continue with tactics that attempt to divide rural and urban Canada. You and I can’t let that happen.
Thank you.
Adam Smith
National Director, National Liberal Fund
PS. In addition to helping build this ad campaign, your donation will earn you a generous tax credit of up to 75 per cent. That means that you’ll get as much as $75 of your $100 contribution back at tax time, and a $250 contribution costs only $62.50!
(File photo: The Canadian Press)
