3rd NDP MP changes gun-registry vote

A third New Democrat MP says he's changed his mind and will vote against a bill to scrap the long-gun registry.

Claude Gravelle, the member for the Northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt, says he wants the registry fixed, not killed.

He was among 12 New Democrats and eight Liberals from rural and northern ridings who voted last fall in support of a Tory private member's bill to get rid of the registry.

MP Candice Hoeppner's bill comes up for another vital vote later this month and needs at least some NDP votes to survive.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says he'll have his whole caucus vote against the bill this time. The Bloc Québécois is solidly opposed.

Gravelle joins colleagues Charlie Angus and Glen Thibeault in backtracking on the legislation.

Gravelle says the Conservatives' hardball approach to the issue finally turned him around.

"The mounting rhetoric and divisive debate egged on by Conservative MPs has convinced me that I needed to make a decision sooner, rather than later," Gravelle said.

He said he was frustrated by the Conservatives' refusal to even consider modifications to the registry.

"There are problems with the long-gun registry which could easily be fixed to address the concerns of hunters, farmers and First Nations communities," he said.

"Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Conservatives had no interest in working collaboratively with other parliamentarians because they had intended all along to use this bill as a fundraising tool and as a cynical way of dividing rural and urban Canadians."

NDP Leader Jack Layton has refused to break a long-standing party tradition that allows MPs to vote as they will on private member's bills.

He's tried hard, though, to persuade his mavericks to switch their votes.