ATTORNEY GENERAL PROVES MCGUINTY LIBERALS HAVE TAKEN NO ACTION THIS SUMMER
(Queen’s Park) – A news conference today proved that Attorney General Michael Bryant and his Premier Dalton McGuinty have truly been absent this summer from an important debate about gun violence and as a result have taken no urgent action to stop it.
PC Justice Critic Bob Runciman called it the “Summer of Silence” because, in stark contrast to their pursuit of pit bulls, the Premier and Attorney General have both been nowhere to be found on gun violence. The Attorney General’s announcement today was obviously cobbled together to make it look as though something is being done.
1. 1. The Attorney General was repeatedly asked if he had spent any time this summer in any of the communities affected by gun violence or spoken to anyone affected. He couldn’t cite a single neighbourhood or person he has spoken with.
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, on the other hand, has met with numerous community leaders, visited several hard hit neighbourhoods to speak to residents, and suggested a number of concrete steps the McGuinty Liberals could take to battle gun violence.
2. 2. When asked about the “gun amnesty’ that was supposedly announced today, the Attorney General could not say when it will start or end, who it will involve or any other details about it. One journalist even suggested the announcement was “written on the back of a napkin” because it lacked any details.
3. 3. The Attorney General could not cite any amount of new money or target date for it to flow for a “blitz” of inspections of gun businesses or for improving Ontario’s witness protection program – two of the four measures announced today.
At least three of the four measures announced today were proven to have no details or money attached to them. The inaction and “Summer of Silence” continues.
