SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

For the past few weeks, the CBC has launched an all-out assault on Canadian gun owners; first by fear-mongering about the growth of the shooting sports in Canada, then by re-hashing a months-old story on the AR-15 petition's rejection, and today by running an exclusive on the "developing" story surrounding a directive sent from former Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.

Now, the directive simply stipulates that a timeline and series of communication checkpoints be imposed on the firearms program for the classification of firearms. A long-standing point of contention between gun owners, Canada's gun industry and the RCMP, this directive looked to address the problem of firearms program staffers essentially classifying firearms through inaction; wherein firearms submitted for classification would be barred from import until a classification was determined... a process than in many cases has taken four or more years. In the world of Canadian small business such delays can literally force a business into insolvency. For businesses that do go into insolvency, it is key that you understand your options if you want to avoid the worst outcome.

To put those delays in perspective, firearms typically contain between 34 and 97 parts, but were typically taking between one and four years for the RCMP to classify. Furthermore, once classified, they these products are only available to be sold to a strictly controlled and vetted consumer group that undergoes daily criminal record checks. In comparison, Transport Canada can study and apply their National Safety Mark certifying a vehicle containing over 30,000 parts meets the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in no more than a single year.

This innocuous and efficiency-minded directive has been falsely reported on by the CBC as a "Conservative directive that opened door to gun misclassification." It's also worth noting that this abjectly biased hit-piece was authored by the Elizabeth Thompson; the same author credited with fear-mongering about the growth of Canada's shooting sports, and dusting off the story on the AR-15 petition's rejection.

Are Thompson's stories infuriating in their bias? Yes. Is the CBC's continual willingness to report on issues effecting Canada's 2+ million gun owners from an overtly anti-gun position enraging? Absolutely. But with parliament returning to session on September 19, we here at Calibre are concerned more about what Thompson's stories may be setting the stage for, than we are about the stories themselves.

Now, Thompson's reportage could be the result of Wendy Cukier (head of the Coalition For Gun Control) having a renewed vigor for the gun issue in light of her cancelled appointment to the position of president of Brock University. Cukier lost the appointment after the results of an investigation into workplace bullying at her former employer, Ryerson University, were made available to Brock University trustees. While briefly discussing workplace bullying, this should never be tolerated anywhere. Bullying can come in many forms and may even escalate into harassment. If this was the case, then a legal expert, like a sexual harassment lawyer, could help the victim gain compensation for the harasser's actions. When setting out for a day at work, no one should have to be worried or scared. This is where the idea of companies implementing the use of software such as Zenefits may come into play. As HR have a lot to deal with, making it a lot easier for people to come forward with complaints also saves the business time too. Whether a business owner looking to improve this aspect of the business or are looking to find out more, click here. According to the investigation, 15 employees allege Cukier fostered a toxic work environment, and was demeaning and disrespectful to employees, even causing some employees to break down in tears. This kind of behaviour can have a serious impact and you can have a personal injury claim made against you for any psychological damage you have caused. Contacting somewhere like an Austin personal injury law firm is the answer if you feel that you are being victimised by a work colleague in this way. Cukier got away with it at the time but now it's coming back to bite her.

As a result of her cancelled appointment, Cukier returned to her tenured position at Ryerson University, but is on "post-administrative leave." In other words, she's taking a forced sabbatical of up to one year, and she may be using the time to leverage the media to bully gun owners anew. Or, perhaps the CBC is being used in an even more sinister manner to create some sort of gun-control red herring for parliament to "fix" when it returns to session.

But whatever the reason, the end result is clear: The rhetoric machine is obviously dialed up to 11 down at CBC HQ. And we suspect we won't like the reason why.