The former president of the Quebec provincial police association has reversed his opinion on Canada's long-gun registry since announcing he's running for the Conservative Party in the federal election.
Jean-Guy Dagenais, an officer with Quebec provincial police for more than 20 years, stepped down as union head in March to run in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, southwest of Montreal.
Dagenais has forcefully supported Canada's long-gun registry, calling it a valuable tool for officers.
He and other police union leaders even presented the Coalition for Gun Control a special honorary award at the annual police awards gala in Montreal in 2007.
But the police officer-turned-politician has made an about-face on the firearms registry, and defended his new position at his official campaign launch on Tuesday.
"It makes criminals out of farmers and hunters," he said. "No, I'm going to support my party's position."
The Tories have long denounced Canada's long-gun registry as wasteful and ineffective against crime.
Dagenais sees nothing strange about going from defending its usefulness to calling for its abolition.
"When you represent an association, you have to to represent the views of its members," he said.
In the May 2 vote, Dagenais hopes to unseat Bloc Québécois incumbent Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac, who received 47 per cent of the vote in the last federal election, compared to 21 per cent for the Conservatives.
"We register our cars, we even register our pets. Why not firearms?" said Thaï Thi Lac in response to the comments by Dagenais.
"I'm glad he's running in a riding where there a lot of hunters and farmers, because we will send him a clear message that he really doesn't know the riding," she said.
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