MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY: RALPH GOODALE

Saskatchewan, comprised of 14 federal ridings, elected just one Liberal Member of Parliament: Ralph Goodale. And as of this morning, that single Liberal MP from the easiest province to draw is our new Minister of Public Safety.

As gun owners, the Minister of Public Safety is a key role in government, as it is the office responsible for firearms regulation. Goodale, a longtime Liberal MP that has served numerous posts inside the party including Deputy Leader of the Liberal party itself.

Various politicos confirmed that the assignment of the Minister of Public Safety's office would be the single best indicator of what the next four years would hold for gun owners in Canada. With some incredibly outspoken anti-gun individuals now in the elected Liberal caucus including Adam Vaughn, Bill Blair, and Mark Holland, the general consensus was that should any of those individuals be named Minister of Public Safety, it would serve as a signal that additional firearm regulation was a priority for the Trudeau government. That none of those individuals were named to this particular office is, to put none too fine a point on it, the best thing we will hear all day.

So what does the new Minister Goodale's appointment indicate? It's difficult to tell. As the sole MP from Saskatchewan, a largely gun-friendly province, if he were to seek re-election it's likely that he would not want to create a rift between himself and his electorate by passing unpopular gun laws; laws that typically resound strongest in more rural areas. However, Goodale has also been in the political arena since 1993, and recently celebrated his 66th birthday. This could likely be his last post before retirement, and in a province that's simply not popular among Liberal voters, his may be a riding the Liberals do not feel they can retain in Goodale's absence. As a result, if this is to be his last term he will be in a position to pass policy that may not reflect his constituency. Conversely, the aforementioned triumvirate comprising the Liberal's most anti-gun cohort are much less experienced, making them viable candidates for re-election; a task that can be much more difficult when gun owners rally against their campaign (as Mark Holland well knows).

Additionally, Goodale has been one of the most vocal opponents to the Conservative's dismantling of the long gun registry, and accused the Conservative government of illegally rushing to destroy long gun registry data. He has since stipulated, during his campaign, that there will be no new long gun registry.