More Mendicino Meddling:
'Unmitigated gall': Senator rejects minister's call to pass Liberal guns bill quicklyOTTAWA - A battle appears to be brewing between senators and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, as he tries to see the Liberals' controversial gun legislation passed swiftly into law.
On Thursday, his office sent a letter to leaders of the different Senate groups and the chair of a committee, saying the minister is "eager" answer senators' questions about Bill C-21 "given the urgency of passing legislation to protect Canadians."
The letter comes with less than a month left before the House of Commons and Senate plan to break for summer, with the Liberals branding the legislation as a priority bill that it wants passed into law within weeks.
The bill seeks to turn a national handgun freeze into law, combat homemade guns and ban what it calls "assault-style" weapons -- measures Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in what critics say is a misplaced effort to combat gun violence.
Conservative Senate leader Don Plett accused Mendicino on Thursday of having "unmitigated gall" in asking senators to hurry when MPs spent months studying the bill before it passed in the House of Commons.
Plett said he plans to vote against the bill as it is currently written and try to block it from passing, saying he feels it punishes firearms users like sport shooters and is doubtful that it could be a bill he finds himself supporting -- even if the Senate amends it.
"Somehow he expects that we are not supposed to give it sober second thought and indeed some kind of a vetting," said Plett.
"He basically says, 'I've looked at the bill, I say it's good, so give it your rubber stamp and let's move on with things.' Well, that's not how the Senate works."
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/unmitigated-gall-senator-rejects-minister-s-call-to-pass-liberal-guns-bill-quickly-1.6433295