There have been about 350 shootings in the GTA this year, generating dozens of bodies and an ever-increasing level of mayhem and fear.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says that most of the shootings are gang-related; he also says the problem is not going to be fixed by policing alone: “To think we can arrest our way out of this is a falsehood.”
Community violence expert Dexter Voisin, dean of Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, echoes Saunder’s thoughts on gang shootings.
“We typically think in terms of law enforcement — surveillance, arrests, gun buy backs, and those sorts of measures,” says Voisin. “But what you have to look at are the structural drivers of gun and gang violence.”
Structural drivers include lack of education, lack of opportunity, inequality, hopelessness, lack of visibility.
“We have to make sure our curriculum is a de-colonized curriculum, that all kids are able to see themselves and their possibilities in those histories … We have to give people a proper trajectory. If they feel their path is blocked by structural barriers — inequality, racism, sexism, xenophobia — if they feel they don’t have equal access to opportunities, then they’re going to default to alternative economies.”
Where to start, says Voisin, is with strong federal gun laws, provincial borders being as porous as the U.S.-Canada border.
And with social investment.
With an election coming, how would representatives from the major parties address the gun and gang issue?
Conservative candidate Tom Dingwall is a career police officer in Durham — where he was born and raised.
Dingwall says there are two issues here: “We have gun control, and we have gun and gang violence. I say two issues because legal gun owners are not the cause of gun and gang violence, as much as … the Liberals are trying to blend the two.”
Rather than targeting legal gun owners, which Dingwall says is misleading and wasteful of time and money, the Conservatives will invest in border and police services “to stop the flow of illegal guns, to properly equip our frontline officers with the tools and resources to conduct pro-active, intelligence-led investigations and prevent crime, rather than show up and fill out reports after people are already shot.”
He adds: “We’re committed to investing in communities and at-risk youth, and addressing the root causes of gang and gun violence.
“And when we do catch these people, we want to be sure they don’t get out on bail. We want to make sure they serve significant time in jail — a clear deterrent to other criminals … Until we get tough on crime and tough on sentencing and restrict bail conditions, we are not going to make a dent in what’s happening.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh argues “it is absolutely critical that the federal government do more to step up and stop the gun violence that has been ripping families apart in the GTA.
“That means addressing the root causes of gun violence, like poverty, by investing in areas, including affordable housing — which the NDP is committed to doing. That also means putting more money into stopping illegal guns at the border and supporting municipalities that want to ban handguns in urban areas.”
The NDP lists the following steps to address guns and gangs in our cities:
— Address root causes by confronting issues like poverty and racial discrimination and investing in things like affordable housing and head-to-toe health care.
— Make sure communities have access to funding for anti-gang projects that help deter at-risk youth from joining gangs.
–Support any urban municipality that would like to ban handguns.
— Increase funding to help Canadian border agents to do a better job of keeping illegal guns out of Canada.
Carlene Variyan, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, noted in a statement: “Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough. Gun crime in Canada is on the rise.”
The Liberals will ban assault weapons (including the AR-15) and strengthen gun control in Canada, working with provinces and territories so municipalities have the ability to further restrict — or ban — handguns. They will protect the rights of law-abiding hunters and refuse to bring back the long-gun registry.
“At the Summit on Gun and Gang Violence, convened by our government last year, experts attested that … governments must adopt a holistic approach, supporting prevention, gang exit, and enforcement initiatives, and taking into account that Canada’s many regions and communities face distinct challenges that require distinct solutions,” said Variyan. “The summit also heard that law enforcement, whether at the border or across Canada, must have the capacity, the information, and the tools they need to keep Canadians safe.”
The Liberals promise to spend nearly $330 million on a comprehensive, national Guns and Gangs Strategy and$51.5 million over five years to beef up enforcement at the border.
According to the Liberal plan, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will provide the cash for detector dog training, expanded X-ray technology at postal and air cargo facilities and better training on detection of concealed goods in vehicles. Another $34.5 million will be earmarked for the RCMP’s new Integrated Criminal Firearms Initiative (ICFI).
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
