The survivors of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre went to Parliament Hill Thursday in hopes of saving the long-gun registry as politicians argued over its merit in the House of Commons.
"We stand with the survivors of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre, we stand with the chiefs of police, we stand with the officers, we stand with the legitimate gun owners who stand by the registry in order to keep our communities safe," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said during question period. "Why is the government ignoring all these voices of reason?"
The Conservatives argue the registry was a waste of money and that their tough on crime agenda will be more effective in preventing violence.
"I think all Canadians were tremendously moved by what happened many years ago in Montréal and we are all deeply committed to ensuring our country is safer for women, and all Canadians," Transport Minister John Baird said. "I think where we differ in opinion, is that we think the billions of dollars spent on the long-gun registry have been a waste."
The gun registry cost an estimated $2 billion to set up, but according to new figures only costs $4 million a year to operate. Police use the registry an estimated 11,500 times a day.
Visit to Hill
The visit of the Ecole Polytechnique survivors occurred after Quebec Conservative MP Bernard Genereux claimed the gun registry was not created in response to the 1989 shooting rampage that left 14 women dead.
Genereux insisted the registry was created in 1995 by the Jean Chrétien Liberal government under the pressure from a gun-control coalition.
However, that coalition was formed following the Polytechnique massacre, in which 25-year-old Marc Lepine killed 14 women and injured another 14 people using a legally obtained rifle.
A private member's bill introduced by Tory MP Candice Hoeppner to scrap the registry has already passed two readings.
With a third passage it will get sent to the Senate.
The bill passed earlier with the support of eight Liberals and a third of NDP MPs.
Suzanne Laplante Edward, the mother of one of the Polytechnique victims, has called on NDP Leader Jack Layton to follow in the footsteps of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and force his MPs to vote against the third reading.
"The future of gun control in Canada depends on you, Jack," she wrote in a letter to Layton.
"Only you can avoid passage of bill C-391 by imposing party line."
