NDP DESPERATELY SEEKING A FIREARMS POLICY

NDP DESPERATELY SEEKING A FIREARMS POLICY: ...One analyst said Turmel's party will struggle on issues where the opinion in Quebec diverges sharply from the national consensus, such as Commons seat redistribution and the Harper government's plan to scrap the gun registry. "This is the double-edged sword of the NDP victory in Quebec: advance Quebec's interest to placate its strengthened Quebec caucus, but risk alienating supporters in the rest of Canada," said Chaldeans Mensah, a political scientist at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, in an email. Six New Democrat MPs voted with the Conservatives in an unsuccessful government bid last year to kill the registry, though more had previously expressed opposition to the program that has always been more popular in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada. Turmel said Wednesday the caucus will discuss its position on the gun registry at a meeting prior to the resumption of Parliament next month. (Montreal Gazette – August 17, 2011)