OTTAWA -- Wendy Cukier has spent the last 15 years crusading for gun control - a campaign that has won her accolades and, at times, abuse.
But Cukier, the president of the Toronto-based Coalition for Gun Control, says the long hours she's put in lobbying the government to bring in tougher gun laws have been therapeutic.
Cukier, a professor at Toronto's Ryerson University, said it was the tragedy of the 1989 Montreal massacre, in which 14 young women were gunned down by a lone gunman, that prompted her to take up the cause.
"I was working at a university in Toronto and (the massacre) was pretty close to home and I'd always assumed, like most Canadians, that we had strong gun laws," Cukier told Sun Media.
"When I found out there were six million rifles and shotguns and no one knew who owned them, it was fairly clear that we didn't have laws as strong as I'd thought."
When the federal government brought in the Firearms Act in 1995, Cukier called it a "highlight" in the gun-control lobby effort.
But it hasn't been easy.
"I don't think most people would have expected that 10 years after the law passed, with a fairly substantial majority of Canadians supporting it, that we'd still be fighting the same arguments over and over again," she said.
That's due in large part, Cukier says, to the opposition's determination "to keep the focus on the gun registry, which is only one aspect of the federal gun-control program.
"If you're not prepared to fund the licensing of gun owners, and you don't support the registration of firearms, what exactly is it that you support?" Cukier asked, referring to the Tories' demand to dump the registry.
"My principal frustration has been that I think the opposition has been very effective in turning what I consider to be a reasonable success story into a story about overspending and mismanagement."
Cukier points to recent statistics that show the number of Canadians being killed annually by guns is declining.
"In 1989, almost 1,400 Canadians were killed with guns. In 2003, it was down to 816. That's not all gun control, but gun control is a big part of it," Cukier said.
"It's at least 500 fewer Canadians killed with guns, and the population has increased. If 500 fewer Canadians were killed by drunk drivers, people would be dancing on the tables and calling this a huge achievement."
But Cukier, the president of the Toronto-based Coalition for Gun Control, says the long hours she's put in lobbying the government to bring in tougher gun laws have been therapeutic.
Cukier, a professor at Toronto's Ryerson University, said it was the tragedy of the 1989 Montreal massacre, in which 14 young women were gunned down by a lone gunman, that prompted her to take up the cause.
"I was working at a university in Toronto and (the massacre) was pretty close to home and I'd always assumed, like most Canadians, that we had strong gun laws," Cukier told Sun Media.
"When I found out there were six million rifles and shotguns and no one knew who owned them, it was fairly clear that we didn't have laws as strong as I'd thought."
When the federal government brought in the Firearms Act in 1995, Cukier called it a "highlight" in the gun-control lobby effort.
But it hasn't been easy.
"I don't think most people would have expected that 10 years after the law passed, with a fairly substantial majority of Canadians supporting it, that we'd still be fighting the same arguments over and over again," she said.
That's due in large part, Cukier says, to the opposition's determination "to keep the focus on the gun registry, which is only one aspect of the federal gun-control program.
"If you're not prepared to fund the licensing of gun owners, and you don't support the registration of firearms, what exactly is it that you support?" Cukier asked, referring to the Tories' demand to dump the registry.
"My principal frustration has been that I think the opposition has been very effective in turning what I consider to be a reasonable success story into a story about overspending and mismanagement."
Cukier points to recent statistics that show the number of Canadians being killed annually by guns is declining.
"In 1989, almost 1,400 Canadians were killed with guns. In 2003, it was down to 816. That's not all gun control, but gun control is a big part of it," Cukier said.
"It's at least 500 fewer Canadians killed with guns, and the population has increased. If 500 fewer Canadians were killed by drunk drivers, people would be dancing on the tables and calling this a huge achievement."
