Quebec Election: gun control advocates poll parties

Gun control advocates surveyed Quebec’s main political parties ahead of the Oct. 3 election, to see where they stand on issues like handgun ban and a gun buyback program.

“This is our chance to get the gun control – we’ve been fighting for for 30 years. And in Quebec, I mean, the parties have to take strong positions and the public has to be aware of this issue,” explained Heidi Rathjen, coordinator for PolySeSouvient and a survivor of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre that killed 14 women.

PolySeSouvient, an advocacy group that includes survivors and families of the Polytechnique mass femicide, sent the questionnaire to parties at the end of August. The group, which advocates for stronger gun control, is also composed of survivors and the families of survivors of the shootings at Dawson College in 2006 and the Quebec City mosque in 2017.

They sent the parties a survey with four categories – only the Conservative Party of Quebec did not reply

“We’re very confident when we say that a vote for the Conservative Party of Quebec is just like a vote for the Conservative Party of Canada, and it’s a vote for the gun lobby,” said Rathjen. “We are talking about the future of our country in terms of what path we’re going to take.”

The provincial Green Party and Québec solidaire (QS) ranked highest in terms of stricter gun measures.

The Liberals and Parti Québécois (PQ) tied for second – and the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), last on the survey – with a no on every category.

“Their positions are certainly compatible with the position of the gun lobby by wanting to only focus only focus on enforcement and illegal guns, which is definitely part of the problem. But there’s not one solution to all of gun crime and violence. We need that. We also need gun control. And that’s where they’re pretty silent and that’s very worrying.”

(Source: PolySeSouvient)

Gun law advocates say vote wisely.

“People in Quebec are worried about gun violence, and we just have to see what’s going on. It’s been since two, three years in our streets. So I think all of us expect that our politicians are aware and conscious of the issues around gun violence and that they can use their leadership and vision to express the people’s voice in in Ottawa if it’s needed, but also with Quebec – police, policemen, with those who are involved in gun control,” said Nathalie Provost, spokesperson for PolySeSouvient and also a survivor of the 1989 Polytechnique shooting.

The Green Party and Québec solidaire both said they would reduce or eliminate legal handguns in Quebec.

The Liberals, QS, and PQ all said they would proactively support a total ban on assault weapons in Canada and increase compliance with the firearms registration act.

“In the past few years, we have had an explosion of sales of assault weapons. There’s been the number of handguns have doubled in the last ten years. There definitely a trend towards us gun ownership and values. And we have to nip that in the butt. It’s extremely important,” added Rathjen. “This is an investment in our future. This is about the kind of society we want to live in.”