On gun control, Bill C-21 gets it right. It’s time to get it done 

Over the past few years, Canadians have watched in horror as shooting tragedies have become all too frequent.

In Toronto, two young women enjoying a summer’s evening on the Danforth were killed and many others injured by a shooter with a stolen handgun.

In Quebec City, an Islamophobic terrorist armed with assault-style firearms and a handgun murdered six innocent worshippers at the Centre Islamique du Québec.

And in Nova Scotia, the lives of 22 people were taken — and countless others forever changed — in a 13-hour rampage across the province. It remains the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.

Canadians are demanding action.

When they re-elected this Liberal government in 2021, it was on the promise of doing more to combat gun violence — and we have delivered.

Combating gun violence requires hard work and a multitude of solutions, not slogans. It begins with strong borders, where we’ve invested nearly a half billion dollars and deepened co-operation with the United States to fight smuggling.

It includes strong laws, like our ban on assault-style firearms and the national freeze on handguns.

Finally, we’re pursuing strong prevention strategies that invest in our communities to stop gun crime before it starts. And of course, we recognize the role firearms play in gender-based violence and suicide.

The centrepiece is Bill C-21, Canada’s most significant legislation on gun violence in a generation.

Despite the lies peddled by Conservative politicians, Bill C-21 does not touch hunting rifles. It is squarely focused on assault-style firearms, with a new technical definition of what constitutes one.

The bill also cracks down on illegally manufactured firearms or “ghost guns” and charts a course to regulate large-capacity magazines.

This landmark law strengthens Canada’s national handgun freeze and assault-style firearm ban. It takes aim at organized crime and ghost guns. And it addresses the alarming role of guns in domestic violence and suicide — all while respecting Indigenous partners’ inherent hunting rights.

Bill C-21 is the product of extensive consultations across the country — from survivors’ groups in major cities to remote communities in the North.

Polling shows that it has the support of nearly four in five Canadians.

And in a vote last month, the bill received the support of four of five parties in the House of Commons.

Canadians agree — weapons made for the battlefield have no place in our communities.

Yet, Conservative politicians, in both the House and Senate, don’t see it that way.

Fuelled by misinformation and egged on by the gun lobby, they continue to stand in the way of progress and attempt to block C-21.

Look no further than the many Conservative politicians who enthusiastically participated in the annual general meeting of the Canadian Coalition of Firearms Rights — basically the National Rifle Association of Canada — earlier this month.

Canadians deserve better. They deserve to feel safe in their communities.

While Conservative politicians take their marching orders from the Canadian NRA, we’re doing the hard work of protecting our country.

Progress on gun violence is a difficult, emotional issue. Bill C-21 strikes a balance that all Canadians can get behind.

There is no time to waste. Let’s stop the political games and put Canadians’ safety first.

While Conservatives delay, distract and dismiss, we will keep moving forward.

We’re calling on senators to debate and pass Bill C-21 — now.

Bill C-21 gets it right. Now, it’s time to get it done.

Pam Damoff is the member of Parliament for Oakville North-Burlington and parliamentary secretary to the public safety minister. First elected to Oakville town council in 2010, she has served as an MP since 2015. She has been a lifelong advocate for protecting communities from gun violence, helping shape progressive firearms legislation as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and the National Security Committee and most recently as parliamentary secretary.