Roundup: Blowback on gun comments

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The backlash from the Conservatives’ fundraising appeal for rural gun owners is starting, from NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, to Quebec premier Philippe Couillard, to Ontario’s former attorney general. In fact, numerous legal authorities are reminding Canadians that they don’t have the right to use deadly force to protect their homes – unless it’s a case of self-defence, but those situations are rare, and use of force must be proportional in order to not be criminal. And then the PMO started backpedalling about things Harper did or did not say, and how they are aware of criminal misuse of firearms, all while the gun lobby is chafing that the government hasn’t gone far enough for their liking. See the swamp that the government has stepped in, while curiously trying to import a culture war that doesn’t actually exist in Canada. It has also been pointed out that Harper made the gun comments in part of a broader discussion of rural issues while in Saskatchewan, and that he missed the mark on some of the more pressing concerns in that area as well.

Good reads:

  • Legal expert Craig Forcese disputes Stephen Blaney’s contention that C-51 gives us powers similar to our allies.
  • Larry Miller is the latest Conservative to have to apologise for remarks, this time over the niqab and saying people should “stay the hell where they came from.” Aaron Wherry looks at the broader niqab issue here.
  • The government is going to introduce legislation to provide caregiver grants to injured veterans, with just a few weeks left on the parliamentary calendar.
  • Thomas Mulcair insists the NDP aren’t split over the niqab issue, despite all evidence to the contrary. He also is now saying he’s open to a coalition with the Liberals post-election, despite previously ruling it out, and now the Liberals are saying they’ve never had the coalition talks Mulcair claims. Interesting.
  • Joan Bryden gives us a history of the term “dog-whistle politics” and how it’s used.
  • Dan Gardner looks at the failure of Sweden’s prostitution laws, and how it only benefitted sex workers in neighbouring countries.
  • Here’s a discussion about some different models of childcare funding that we could be thinking about in Canada.

Odds and ends:

It sounds like Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti won’t be allowed back in the Liberal caucus, and that while Pacetti is likely not to run again, Andrews plans to.

Not surprisingly, the PBO has confirmed that the Conservatives’ income splitting will cost $2.2 billion and only be effective for 15 percent of families.

The government’s $4.3 million ad campaign for veterans fell flat, like most of their advertising programmes.