Criminal sabotage targeting only homes and vehicles belonging to St. Paul's area Liberal supporters this weekend was preceded by a similar attack on Liberal supporters in Guelph several weeks ago.

Its been brought to my attention that criminal attacks on Liberal supporters this weekend in the riding of St. Paul's are similar in nature to attacks made on August 30th during the then underway by-election in Guelph which was to elect a replacement for retiring Liberal member of parliament, Brenda Chamberlain.

Vandalism citing C-68

Brake lines cut and graffitti sprayed during Guelph by-election campaign (August 30, Guelph Mercury):

GUELPH — Vandals spray-painted the word "scum" in blood-red letters on the front wall of Frank Maine's Sherwood Drive home and lives were endangered when four vehicles had their brake lines cut overnight yesterday.

Maine was not the only Liberal party supporter whose property was stained with anti-Liberal graffiti, in what Guelph Police are calling "numerous cases of malicious damage and mischief incidents" throughout the city.

On top of brake lines being cut, two other vehicles had graffiti scratched into them. At least 10 homes were attacked, including Maines' next-door neighbour and others in the northeast Guelph neighbourhood. Some homes in the city's south end where also struck.

It appears only residents with Liberal Frank Valeriote byelection signs on their lawns were victimized, and some graffiti was decidedly pro-New Democratic Party. NDP candidate Tom King angrily denounced the vandalism, and likened it to an act of hate. Valeriote called it "voter intimidation."

All parties need to condemn these attacks immediately and all parties need to work pro-actively with police to identify the perpetrators as quickly as possible before a) someone is hurt, and b) to prevent Canada's electoral system from resembling that of Russia's.

Criminals lurk here

Hopefully these two very similar and nearby incidents are the act of a single person or group and police are able to quickly make arrests. The pro-NDP graffiti seems to me to be an obvious attempt at misdirection, a feint to put police onto the wrong track. Still, all avenues should be pursued, as I'm reminded of the chaps who flung dung at David Emerson's constituency office in 2006 (Brothers arrested in smelly protest). While they weren't tied to any party, their actions cast a cloud over all legitimate opposition to Emerson's defection.

Perhaps a more telling clue to the Guelph attacks appears further along in the above noted article:

A Liberal MP in the '70s and a Guelph city councillor in the '90s, Maine woke up yesterday morning to find the damage, which also included the graffiti writing "C-68 sucks." In Canadian legislation, Bill C-68 refers both to the country's gun control laws and to the first version of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

There are in fact three different bills labelled C-68 in Canadian parliamentary history, only one of which ever received Royal Assent, passed during a Liberal goverment:

1. C-68 An Act to support development of Canada's Pacific Gateway - 38th Parliament, 1st Session (October 4, 2004 - November 29, 2005). Status: First Reading
2. C-68 An Act in respect of criminal justice for young persons and to amend and repeal other Acts - 36th Parliament, 1st Session (September 22, 1997 - September 18, 1999). Status: First Reading
3. C-68 An Act respecting firearms and other weapons - 35th Parliament, 1st Session (January 17, 1994 - February 5, 1996). Status: Royal Assent

If the reference is to the Firearms Act, this would tend to implicate Conservative Party supporters, particularly those who originated from the Reform or Canadian Alliance parties. Some may recall the constant and strident opposition to Bill C-68 from those parties and sympathetic supporters. One Canadian Alliance MP, Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville - SK), made opposition to C-68 his personal mission, and continues to do so to this day as a Conservative Party member of parliament.

Rest assured Garry Breitkreuz will never betray the firearms community. We have been united in our 12-year fight to repeal Bill C-68. I will never give up and I hope you will stay with us until it’s dead and gone. Garry Breitkreuz

As an aide in understanding where Mr. Breitkreuz expects the Conservative Party to head on gun control legislation, he helpfully quotes Stephen Harper and his former boss, Preston Manning, in one paragraph:

“I was and still am in total agreement with the statement made in the House of Commons by former Reform Leader Preston Manning on June 13, 1995: ‘Bill C-68, if passed into law, will not be a good law. It will be a bad law, a blight on the legislative record of the government, a law that fails the three great tests of constitutionality, of effectiveness and of democratic consent of the governed. What should be the fate of a bad law? It should be repealed…’ C-68 has proven to be a bad law and has created a bureaucratic nightmare for both gun owners and the government. As Leader of the Official Opposition, I will use all the powers afforded to me as Leader and continue our party's fight to repeal Bill C-68 and replace it with a firearms control system that is cost effective and respects the rights of Canadians to own and use firearms responsibly.” Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance leadership candidate, January 2002

Opposing firearms legislation has always been a hallmark of the Reform / Canadian Alliance now Conservative Party. This policy has always been a sop to their mostly rural voting base. Most urban voters would like to see the Firearms Act contain ever more tight restrictions on firearms use and ownership, and firearm bans made even more sweeping.