Bill, Interrupted: Christmas Recess For Bill C-21

The House of Commons has ended its fall sitting, and that means that for now, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety (SECU) is not hard at work. No SECU meetings means there is no discussion of Bill C-21 and its gun control propositions until the end of January, 2023, when the House resumes business as usual.

If you are a firearms owner, now is your time to get busy writing letters, and if you've already been busy doing that, you need to keep up the work. MPs from all parties have noted the massive volume of correspondence across their desks in recent weeks. Don't forget to also contact provincial representatives, senators and even local municipal leaders with your concerns.

After the federal government gets back to business in January, the future of C-21 is unclear. The NDP is generally saber-rattling, claiming they'll pull their support from the Liberal party if the LPC doesn't grant them the political concessions they want, particularly in healthcare spending. If the NDP does not support the Liberals, we will be headed to a federal election within weeks, and Bill C-21 will die on the table if not passed at that point. And it might not pass until then, as SECU members are now asking to be allowed to travel to consult with rural Canadians and First Nations leaders to discover C-21's impact on their lives. The wheels of government can grind exceedingly slow, and this could prolong the bill's discussion by many months.

But remember: C-21 has already passed first and second reading, so the federal government could get it passed very quickly if things went the Liberals' way. However, the Conservatives on the SECU are opposed to C-21, and the NDP and Bloc Quebecois members now realize the bill will have very dire implications for law-abiding firearms owners if passed—which may have very dire consequences for their own political careers. As well, at least some party members even inside the Liberals seem extremely unhappy with the tactics the Liberals used with C-21, especially the last-minute amendments proposed after second reading, which ban many hunting rifles by name.

With territorial, provincial and First Nations leaders ramping up opposition to C-21, not to mention initial opposition from law enforcement and municipalities, and even opposition in even centrist and left-leaning press outlets, it seems the only group that really wants this to pass is the federal Liberal party. A few months' worth of delays might be enough to torpedo it, leaving the Liberals with gun control as a political football once again in a federal election.

At this point, the best thing you can do is keep on writing letters, and when the House sits again in a month's time, we'll see where we're at.