Mr. Speaker, National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston came to Canada yesterday and demonstrated his ignorance of Canada and Canadian values. Heston told Canadians “We are North Americans by birth on either side of the line. The rest is just survey stakes and politics”. He could not be more wrong.
Canadians are not Americans. Our west was opened with treaties, not wars. Our health care system responds to the depth of an illness, not a wallet. Our gun laws keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people.
Heston says “We share a border that's more a myth than a fact”. Canadians see the effect of American gun violence on television every day.
We joined with the world in sorrow after Columbine, Jonesboro and too many other tragedies to mention.
Charlton Heston may think that our shared border is a myth. Canadians do not. We do not want the American gun culture crossing that line.