Ontario to spend $25M to fight guns and gangs
TORONTO • Police and courts in Toronto will receive $25 million from the Ontario government to fight guns and gangs, Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday, saying the funds would give authorities the tools needed to deal with a recent rise in violence.
Critics, however, panned the move, saying the money set to roll out over four years was not going toward addressing the root causes of such crimes.
Toronto has seen a string of gun crimes this year, including a rampage that left two people dead in the city’s Greektown in July, and a shooting on a playground that sent two young girls to hospital in June. In another incident, a woman on her way home from a funeral was killed in a drive-by shooting.
“It’s time to get serious about fighting guns and gangs,” said Ford. “No more talk. No more grandstanding. It’s time for action.”
The premier said the funding would make a difference across Ontario, and called on the federal government and the City of Toronto to match the investment. “Organized crime that starts in Toronto ends up spilling into Ottawa and other centres,” Ford said.
The government has earmarked $18 million for Toronto police to provide digital, investigative and other resources to help deal with drug gangs and gun crime.
“We’re going to hand over the money ... and they’re going to be able to tell us ‘this is where we think the money should go,’ ” Ford said, adding the province did not plan to bring back the controversial practice of police street checks known as carding.
Another $7.6 million will go to establishing teams at courthouses in the city that will be dedicated to prosecuting gun crime cases. They will consist of an experienced Crown attorney with additional staff to focus on gangs and guns, Ford said. “Each team will have only one mission,” he said. “Keeping violent gun criminals behind bars and away from bail.”
The teams will be supported by bail compliance officers to monitor those convicted of a gun crime and out on bail.
The opposition parties said the funding announced Thursday does little to deal with what causes people to turn to guns and gangs in the first place.
“We need to take a look at the issues of poverty,” said NDP legislator Gilles Bisson. “Why is it that people pick up guns? Why do people join gangs? ... If you really want to deal effectively with guns, you’ve got to look at everything.”
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford’s announcement indicates the premier is putting his own ideology over evidence.
“The Premier spoke of ‘gangsters, thugs and bad guys,’ showing his one-dimensional understanding of the root causes of violence and poverty,” he said.
According to Toronto police, there were 23 shooting deaths in 2017, compared to 30 so far this year.