Sense amongst the senseless

For those that missed it, this past Wednesday the bill that would have scrapped the long-gun registry was defeated by a Liberal motion against it by an ultra slim margin (153 to 151). Leaving aside the emotionally charged nature of the debate around the registry, those who long for a minority parliament to operate as though all parties accepted their lack of support by the electorate (rather than as a majority-lite Consevative operation) had to admire the way in which the NDP went about the registry vote.

The NDP under Jack Layton have hardly been anything to remark about. For the most part, the party has made a go of inching their way into whatever political issues that the two dominant parties find uninteresting. Mostly they are forgotten, and when their actions are brought to the forefront it is usually for the wrong reasons; for instance, when Layton originally refused to allow Green Party leader Elizabeth May to participate in the 2008 federal leaders debate.

Nonetheless, the way in which Layton and his party approached the registry vote was a bright spot for how parliamentary decisions should be made in the interests of a member of parliament’s constituents, and not in the interests of the party.

Basically, the NDP did not wish to be seen as the culprits that allowed the registry to disappear. Apparently, the illusion of safety provided by the registry is crucial to the NDP’s reputation as a progressive-minded bunch when it comes to public safety.

Yet, faced with the possibility of failure so long as certain rural members of the party decided to vote for scrapping the registry, Layton nonetheless allowed his caucus to vote as their constituents told them to vote, a brave move no matter what your political orientation is.

What’s more was that the NDP proposed the most sensible approach to the issue of the registry. Rather than loudly proclaim that the registry is either a black spot upon society that criminalizes honest gun-toting hunters and farmers (the Conservatives), or a necessary tool for law enforcement and safety (the Liberals), the NDP leader proposed that perhaps the registry could be salvaged, so long as fees for registration were removed and treaty rights respected and taken into account.

As depressing as it has been to watch the descent into madness that parliament has seen over the past four years, kudos should be given to the NDP for its handling of an unnecessarily divisive and mainly insignificant political issue.