Guns on our lakes – the political reaction

The issue of U.S. Coast Guard cutters conducting machine gun fire exercises on the Great Lakes has percolated up to Ottawa. Here's an exchange from Question Period:

Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP): Mr. Speaker, recently Mayor Bradley of Sarnia added his name to the chorus of Canadians who are concerned about the U.S. coast guard firing live ammunition into the Great Lakes. This is on top of the fact that the vessels of the coast guard have very powerful machine guns on them now.
Will the Prime Minister tell us how firing live ammunition into the Great Lakes where Canadians live, work and play is making them any safer?
Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it was actually in 2003 that the previous government affirmed a treaty that had been in place since 1817 and permitted this type of exercise. It is currently under review. There has been a suspension of all activities of live fire exercises until November. There will be a public consultation. Canada has made its views known to the United States. Clearly, we will follow these consultations in the United States to make those views further known on the environmental side and the security side to see that we get a proper resolution.
Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP): Mr. Speaker, a proper resolution is to make sure that the shooting in the Great Lakes is stopped.
We all know that the Liberals sold us out when they allowed a treaty concocted two centuries ago to keep the Great Lakes demilitarized to be violated.
The question is whether the Conservative government is going to put on the table a Canadian position that says there will be no firing of live ammunition in the Great Lakes because of the environmental, safety, tourism, economic and sovereignty consequences.
Will the Prime Minister stand in this place and say that he is going to tell the Americans to shut down the firing in the Great Lakes?
Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, obviously the leader of the NDP was not listening and he has taken the usual approach of ready, fire, aim.
I have said that the exercises are not taking place while the consultation is under way. In fact, there will be three public consultations, one taking place in Minneapolis and the others in Detroit and Buffalo. They are currently under way.
In April 2003 both countries agreed to an interpretation of an age-old contract, the Rush Bagot contract. We are pursuing this with the Americans. We have made our views known. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Later, Layton addresses reporters in the House of Commons foyer after Question Period:

“Well, the Liberals apparently opened the door to this arming of Coast Guard vessels in the Great Lakes without much fanfare. That was a grave error and Canadians should have in fact been consulted at that point. Now we see that live firing of ammunition on the Great Lakes is taking place and there are no hearings in Canada. The minister talked about hearings but they’re all in the States. What? Do Canadians not matter? These are our Great Lakes too. …
… I know that the mayor of Kingston, the mayor of Sarnia, the mayor of Toronto, mayors on the Canadian side and I understand some mayors on the American side are very concerned about the fact that a place that has been a place of work, a place of pleasure, a place for environment to thrive and ecosystems is now going to be shot at by the Coast Guard with these massive machine guns. There’s an awful lot of people out there on those looks who aren’t necessarily listening to their radios to get alerts that there’s going to be live fire with a range of up to 4,000 feet or more taking place on the Great Lakes. And our government needs to make a clear statement on the record with the United States administration to say that this must stop.

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