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Conservative MP Rempel Garner’s petition against federal firearm ban closes with more than 230,000 signatures

Published

4 years ago

September 7, 2020

A parliamentary e-petition sponsored by Conservative Calgary Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel Garner that calls for the federal government to scrap its firearms ban has been certified with more than 230,000 signatures — the most on the online platform since it was introduced in 2015.

The petition asks the prime minister to immediately scrap his “firearms confiscation regime,” calling it “undemocratically imposed without debate during a pandemic while Parliament is suspended, [and] an assault on Canadian democracy.”

“[Canadians] are wondering why the government has chosen to confiscate legally-owned firearms during a suspended parliament,” Rempel Garner said in an interview with CBC News.

“When we know that that is going to do little to reduce the issue of violent crime in Canada, in terms of firearms that are obtained illegally.”

In May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on 1,550 makes and models of “assault-style” weapons in Canada. A two-year amnesty period was granted before Canadians are required to dispose of the weapons.

In making the announcement, the prime minister said that assault-style weapons had “no place” in Canada.

“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time,” he said at the time.

The federal government has moved to ban the sale and import of several types of semi-automatic firearms in Canada. (CBC News)

Instead of a ban on assault-style weapons, Rempel Garner’s petition calls on the government to crack down on firearms obtained illegally, specifically targeting the prevention of smuggled firearms across the U.S. border.

“Canada has one of the most rigorous firearms acquisition licensing regimes in the world,” she said.

“When we’re looking at the very important issue of preventing firearms violence in Canada, we have to look at where firearms that are used in violent crime are coming from and we know that the vast majority of those are illegally obtained and primarily smuggled in from the United States.”

Advocate says weapons are ‘designed to kill’

Heidi Rathjen, a gun control activist and survivor of the 1989 Polytechnique massacre, pushed back against Rempel Garner’s petition, saying the banned weapons are “designed to kill.”

“There’s no legitimate justification for allowing that kind of power in the hands of ordinary civilians. These weapons belong to the military. These are weapons of war,” Rathjen said.

“They’re not needed for hunting or even legitimate target practice … these are civilian versions of military weapons that, you know, many, if not most, have been put on the market in the last couple of decades.”

Following the Polytechnique massacre, Rathjen said students of the school garnered more than 500,000 signatures on a paper petition, signed by hand and gathered through regular mail, over a period of four months.

“But again, petitions are one thing. I think, what really matters, is what the public wants,” Rathjen said. “A majority of Canadians support the ban on assault weapons. I think the Liberal government did the democratic thing when they passed these orders in council.”

Parliamentary petition

As Parliament is currently prorogued until Sept. 23, Rempel Garner will need to wait to table the petition.

“Because it is an official parliamentary petition, the government is required to respond to all the signatories that are on there,” she said.

“So I think that the government is going to have to think really carefully about its response, because there’s a lot of people in Canada that cross political boundaries that are concerned with this issue and are not pleased with the government’s response.”

According to a spokesperson in the House of Commons, Rempel Garner’s petition has surpassed any other petition on the number of signatures since the launch of the new system for electronic petitions in 2015.

Historically, however, a number of paper petitions have also obtained a large number of signatures, including an anti-abortion petition in 1975 that contained more than one million signatures. That contradicts Rempel Garner’s claim in social media that hers is the largest Parliamentary petition in Canadian history.

As part of the e-petition platform, signatories are required to enter a valid email address and click on a link sent to that address, and additional monitoring tools are in place to ensure the integrity of signatures, the spokesperson said.

Source:- CBC.ca

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

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AP NFL:

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NHL roundup: Kuemper helps visiting Kings shut out Predators 3-0

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.

Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.

Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.

Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.

The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:

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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.

Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.

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