Statement made on 01 December 2009 by Senator Joan Fraser
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, it is not only the victims of Marc Lépine's murderous rampage at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal that we mourn this week. Since that day in Montreal, we have seen other murderous rampages. In 1992, Valery Fabrikant shot and killed four colleagues at Concordia University. Kimveer Gill went on a terrible shooting spree at Dawson College in 1996, where, by the grace of God, only one person died and 19 others were wounded.
The leader can understand the consternation of the citizens in Montreal and throughout Quebec when they learned that the Harper government was whipping its members in the other place to vote in favour of abolition of the long-gun registry.
Montreal Police Chief Yvan Delorme, has commented that the existence of the long-gun registry has enabled police in my city to avert yet another shooting rampage. The minister in Quebec for the Status of Women has said that if the long-gun registry is dismantled, the Quebec police and victims of domestic violence will be put at unnecessary risk.
On November 4, 2009, the National Assembly voted unanimously for the third time in favour of maintaining the gun registry in its entirety, including the registration of hunting rifles. The Quebec public safety minister, Jacques Dupuis, plans to come to Ottawa with a non-partisan Quebec delegation to express his opposition to this bill.
What is the government's response to the Quebecers who have seen the terrible price we pay for losing control of guns in our society?
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