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GUNFIGHT AT THE MINISTERS' CORRAL

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A looming federal election and a fragile minority government could help bring about needed changes to gun crime legislation, says Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant. "I believe that a public consensus is gathering as to the importance of the safety of our streets," Bryant said yesterday in a telephone interview from Whitehorse, where he is attending a federal/provincial justice ministers' conference.

He's trying to leverage support from federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler for changes to gun laws to crack down on the illegal possession and use of firearms. "This conference affords an opportunity for all justice ministers to align themselves with this incredibly important issue that also has the support of the general public at a particularly politically sensitive time," Bryant said.

He spent yesterday seeking other provincial justice ministers' support. Manitoba is seeking help to deal with a plague of crystal meth, he said. Bryant will likely offer support on that front in exchange for Manitoba's support for a gun crackdown. "My focus is guns, guns, guns," Bryant said.

The political climate is on Bryant's side. With so many Liberal MPs from this city, Prime Minister Paul Martin risks having the recent spate of gun crimes strung around his neck like an electoral albatross.

It's been next to impossible for provincial justice ministers to get the attention of their federal counterparts in the past. The feds just don't get it on crime For them gun crime is still a "Stephen Harper" kind of issue. In this province, though, Bryant has taken the gun issue and run with it. Law and order used to be the preserve of Conservatives. Not anymore.

The only problem for Bryant is that he talks a good game, but so far he hasn't delivered anything substantive by way of legislation. Yes, he has a guns-and-gangs task force. And yes, he's brought in a gun amnesty and increased monitoring of gun shops and gun collectors. But they are innocent targets.

Until he can bring about real changes to gun laws, he will be seen as all sizzle and no steak. In a recent letter to Cotler, Bryant said he wants "zero tolerance," for illegal possession and use of firearms. Offences such as trafficking and importing firearms should carry a four-year mandatory minimum (it's now one).

He also wants to prohibit conditional sentences for crimes involving guns and proposes creating new offences such as "robbery where a firearm is stolen." These new crimes would also have mandatory minimum sentences.

In the past, it's been tough to get the feds tuned in to crime. Provincial justice ministers tend to view Cotler as an aloof academic, out of touch with the realities of urban crime. But with an election looming, who knows?

This issue could also haunt the New Democrats, who are not known to be tough on crime in the first place.

Suppose the Whitehorse bun fight actually comes up with a tough agenda on gun crime -- and NDP leader Jack Layton pulls the plug on an election before the feds have chance to implement it. That could bite him where it hurts most -- the soft urban underbelly of cities like Toronto, where the NDP hopes to regain popularity.

In this city, we don't care who gets the guns off the streets: Stephen Harper, Paul Martin -- or Jack Layton. Heck, we'd probably vote for Bloc Quebecois boss Gilles Duceppe if he pledged to get tough on crime. We just want someone -- anyone -- to do it.

The question for politicians at the door this election will be: How will you clean up our streets? They had better have some answers.