OTTAWA - A key vote that could decide the fate of the long-gun registry has been put off to September, which likely means a lot of summer politicking in rural Canada.
House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken said the matter will come up on Sept. 21, when the House will debate a committee recommendation to abandon the bill to kill the registry.
The vote on the recommendation will come the following day.
The private member's bill, introduced by Manitoba Tory Candice Hoeppner, has caused bitter party infighting -- and delaying the vote to September will allow three months for political arm-twisting.
Hoeppner herself says she plans to use the summer to work on the 20 opposition members who broke party lines and voted for her bill on second reading.
"I think that the longer I have to persuade NDP members and even the eight Liberals to support my bill and not support this motion, I think that's probably my best scenario," she said.
Repeal of the long-gun registry is heresy for the Bloc Quebecois and for big-city Liberals leery of a backlash from their constituents. On the other hand, it's Tory gospel that the registry is a wasteful process that makes life harder for farmer and hunters.
Hoeppner's bill passed second reading last November when 12 New Democrats and eight Liberals, mainly from rural ridings, broke ranks to support the legislation.
She said she wants to hold their feet to the fire over the summer.
"I plan on taking as much time as I can to go to different ridings to make sure that constituents in these 12 NDP ridings are aware of what's going on."
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is insisting that all his MPs toe the party line in the next vote, though he is calling for some changes to the existing registry.
NDP Leader Jack Layton hopes to woo his defectors back without having to resort to the coercion of a party-line vote.
The opposition parties used their majority on the public safety committee to recommend that Hoeppner's bill be dropped from consideration, but that has to be approved by the House.
