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Rock and a hard place

Rock and a hard place Yukon MP Larry Bagnell has a very important decision to make when voting or otherwise on the issue of scrapping the existing federal gun registration law. His political party leader is telling him one thing, and the people of Yukon,

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell has a very important decision to make when voting or otherwise on the issue of scrapping the existing federal gun registration law.

His political party leader is telling him one thing, and the people of Yukon, just the opposite.

The parliamentary system provides a traditional means to express a majority opinion of the electorate he has sworn to represent.

On the other hand, his political leaders are telling him that in this instance, he must disregard the will of the people and vote the way he is told to by his party boss.

He really has very few options to consider.

He can bow to the will of his leader and risk banishment from his party, refuse to vote at all, or perhaps cross the floor of the House to sit in the opposition or independent benches to cast his vote.

Because this is a serious and highly regarded issue, whenever the vote is finally taken, his final decision will be closely watched by the Yukon electorate.

Hopefully he will decide to support the majority opinion.

His failure to do so could well reveal a complete disregard for those precious values embodied in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Donald E. Taylor

Watson Lake