From the Star:
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T.O. like any big American city
Dec. 27, 2005. 07:38 AM
LINDA DIEBEL
STAFF REPORTER
It was a shock for Bobby to be standing outside Future Shop having a smoke one minute and having to hit the pavement to the sound of gunfire the next. But after he realized he was unhurt, he said he wasn't surprised that Boxing Day sales turned into holiday hell in Toronto.
"I've seen this kind of violence before because I used to live in the States," said Bobby, 27, interviewed shortly after the shootings yesterday, and unwilling to give his last name.
"It's really bad here now. Toronto — for me, it's just like any big American city. There's no difference. You can get killed just by walking down the street."
Like any American city.
Maybe it's not true technically. After all, shooting deaths in Toronto usually pale in comparison with most large U.S. cities. In New York City alone, there have been 1,454 shootings (not all fatal) so far this year. In our city, politicians say they are working to provide solutions to the gun violence which, as of yesterday, has claimed 52 victims in Toronto.
Recently, Mayor David Miller and Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant stood with Prime Minister Paul Martin when, during a visit to Toronto, he announced a ban on the possession of hand guns. The mayor praised the action, saying he "could not think of a more important announcement for the people of Toronto."
Moreover, as the politicians insist, ours is a relatively safe city.
But that's not how it feels anymore.
It's not how it must feel to the families of innocent bystanders gunned down on Yonge St. yesterday, in a shooting that left one dead and six injured, including an off-duty police officer. Among the wounded was Helen Yiu, 20. From Hong Kong and attending university here, she was visiting her aunt and uncle in Markham. She was shopping for gifts on a street that Torontonians like to boast is the longest in the world.
As officers on horseback guarded a crime scene that stretched for three blocks along the famous street, Toronto residents expressed their fear and disgust with the rising violence they say has transformed their city and shattered their sense of well-being.
"Can I move back to Calgary? I don't feel safe in Toronto," said Suzanne Armstrong, 36, who moved here six months ago to work in a dental centre.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen in Calgary."
Candace Knight, 45, her friend and co-worker, made a wry face and asked: "Can I go with you?"
It seems as if some awful line has been crossed in our city in 2005. It's not just the increase in shooting deaths over last year — up from a total of 27 in 2004 — it's that each crime has become more dramatic, the victims more innocent.
In 2005, we've seen a little boy, Shaquan Cadougan, 4, hit in the thigh, shin and hip by stray bullets in a shooting at Yonge and Finch. Now 5, he is still undergoing surgery and paying a terrible price.
At a playground behind a public housing unit, dozens of children outside on a summer evening witnessed the shooting in cold blood of Delroy Daring, 45, at Eglinton Ave. E. and Markham Rd. Earlier, two other men had been gunned down right across the street in front of a strip mall.
Then, in November, the city reacted with horror after a young man, Amon Beckles, was shot outside a Rexdale church where he was attending the funeral of a friend, another gunshot victim. Yesterday came another death and the wounding of several other people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The summer of the gun is stretching out to its miserable conclusion, seemingly eking out the last few drops of blood before the new year.
As the year's tally worsened day by day, politicians have blamed their opposition and other levels of government. Liberal MP Dan McTeague even pointed a finger at rapper 50 Cent, whose lyrics he argues promote violence and glamorize a gangster lifestyle. He fought unsuccessfully to have the artist barred from entering Canada for a recent tour, which included an appearance in Toronto.
Meanwhile, Canadians are in the midst of a federal election campaign. The Prime Minister says he recognizes that gun violence in the country's largest city is a pressing issue. Toronto police Chief Bill Blair, speaking to reporters after a recent meeting at Queen's Park, says he wants to see the violence addressed by federal politicians during the campaign because "it's a very important issue to the people of Toronto."
And yet, for all the political sturm und drang — for all the promises made by politicians to the people of Toronto about curbing gun violence — the police chief found himself yesterday, in Christmas suit and tie, at a police command centre at Yonge and Elm Sts., dealing with the aftermath of more violence.
His officers had cordoned off one of the busiest areas of Toronto. It's a stretch of Yonge St., that includes several electronics and music stores, a Pizza Pizza and, a little further north, the flashing lights of the Zanzibar Tavern, with its sign for "over 75 red-hot girls — all-nude."
Nearby, police officers set up a portable forensic unit and questioned potential witnesses in the street. One officer asked Matt, a youth who has been staying at a Toronto shelter, to report to nearby 52 Division in order to give a statement.
Matt, who also didn't want to give his last name, said he saw a man lying on the ground at Yonge and Gerrard Sts. "He was bleeding pretty badly," he said, adding the man was able to leave before police arrived.
"It is so bad in Toronto," said Matt, before leaving for the police station with three friends. "We are homeless and we don't feel safe. You are always wondering: `Am I going to get shot today? Is one of my buddies going to get shot today?'"
Blair met with his officers in the middle of a crime scene, in full view of Torontonians who have become increasingly pessimistic about their city.
"Nobody is surprised anymore," said cab driver Stephen Delon, 53, waiting to have dinner at a restaurant behind police lines. "This is what Toronto is like. But you can't be afraid. You live once, you die once. ... Maybe Toronto used to be a safe city but it's not anymore."
Still, there was a time, said another middle-aged man, that he would have brought his kids downtown on Boxing Day. Not anymore.
"I came by myself (today)," he said. "Crime is out of control in Toronto but you know what I think? I think the politicians don't care. They are all jumping on the bandwagon and saying they care, but they don't. It's all just talk."
