Gun registry may survive vote

It seems that Jack Layton has managed to get enough of his dissident MPs on side to vote against Hoeppner's bill:

This week, after his party’s caucus meeting in Regina, the NDP Leader announced he had the votes to ensure the registry’s survival. Four of the original 12 had declared publicly their intention to switch their votes at the time, and on Thursday Carol Hughes became the fifth.

“This is not a decision I have taken lightly,” Ms. Hughes, who also represents an Northern Ontario riding, said in Canadian Press report. “I have reviewed a years’ worth of input from people across this riding – hundreds of mail-back cards, phone calls, notes from meetings and reports. And I can tell you that their views about the registry are rich and diverse, just like they are everywhere else in the country.”

From the Globe. Interesting that instead of whipping his caucus, Layton seems to have been able to get cooperation by proposing a compromise -- namely, to get rid of the problematic parts of the registry. Of course, the vote hasn't happened yet, and a lot of things could change in the meantime -- but if this works, it will reflect well on Layton and the NDP.