Conservative caucus meets – what about those guns?

As they filed into Room 237-C in the House of Commons Centre Block for their caucus meeting this morning, Conservative MPs and Senators didn't want talk much about the gun registry and other gun-related issues. We asked as many as we could about their reaction to the tearful pleas of Quebec Premier Jean Charest to maintain the gun registry. Most declined to comment but a few paused for the cameras and the microphones. Senator Michael Fortier (left), the political minister for Montreal whose home is in Westmount, had this to say:

“I was very happy to see the Premier spend some time with the student association and the folks at the school, running the school. He was emotional and I think a lot of us in Montreal who have children — I have five kids, my oldest daughter is going to CEGEP next year — I just find this very troubling that schools are being targeted that way. It's happened too often in Montreal. As more and more information is being made available about what motivated this invidividual, if we ever find out what it was — it's very disturbing, very troubling. As parents, we're now having to explain situations to our children that our own parents never really thought they'd ever have to with us. We're all unprepared for this, to be quite frank.”

Also: Senator Fortier promised that he would making an announcement “shortly” about which riding he will run in at the next general election. Shortly after his appointment to the Senate, Fortier promised he would quit the Red Chamber and run for a seat in the House of Commons at the next general election. Fortier said the riding he will run in will be “in the Greater Montreal Area, for sure.”