OTTAWA – The Bloc Quebecois hopes it can save the federal gun registry with emotion if its arguments don’t work.
Next Tuesday on Parliament Hill, the party will show “Polytechnique,” a film based on the Montreal Massacre of Dec. 6, 1989. The movie is a fictionalized version of Marc Lepine’s rampage through the Universite de Montreal’s Ecole polytechnique.
Lepine killed 14 female engineering students and wounded a number of other women and men before turning the gun on himself. He blamed feminists for ruining his life.
The killings sparked debates about gun control and led to the creation of the federal gun registry.
The Bloc has invited MPs and senators from all political parties to take in the movie, with hopes they will be convinced the registry is worth backing.
“I think screening this type of film opens eyes,” Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said.
Two bills calling for the abolition of part of the gun registry are currently under review in Ottawa.
The Harper government sent one to the Senate. The other, brought forward by Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz, is being examined in the House of Commons.
Duceppe hopes to change the minds of Liberal and New Democrat MPs who are tempted to support the Conservative push to eliminate the registry.
The Bloc leader has persuaded the mother of one of the Ecole polytechnique victims to attend the event, even though she won’t actually watch the film.
Suzanne Laplante-Edward campaigned tirelessly for stricter gun control after the death of her daughter, Anne-Marie Edward.
“I won’t watch it,” said Laplante-Edward, who plans to talk to politicians before the screening.
“It’s very important that all parliamentarians see the damage that one weapon can cause.”
And if the Conservatives fail to attend the flick?
“If they don’t come we’ll know there’s bad will,” Laplante-Edward said. “We’ll know for certain … that they don’t want to know anything about it.”
