http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/17/tory-says-the-right-things-in-wake-of-shooitng
TORONTO - Mayor John Tory was pissed off and had every reason to be.
This brazen shooting really shook him.
Tory was his usual elegant and reasonable self but he did not mince words when it came to the wicked violence on Driftwood Thursday. In fact, as I told City Hall bureau chief Don Peat, this was Tory’s strongest and best speech not only as mayor but as a politician.
It came with a warning to those who would go into a neighbourhood and shoot at anybody and everybody.
“As mayor, I can tell you right now, I will not for a minute tolerate lawlessness and complete disregard for human life which is what we saw (Thursday),” Tory said Friday at City Hall. “To the criminals and to the gangsters who perpetrate these acts, I have a message: You will, thanks to the competence and hard work and determination of our police service but also everybody else in this community including the people here at City Hall, we will track these people down, we will help to catch them and make sure they face the full force of the justice system.”
His message was loud and clear. Not just on the fact that he understands who the bad guys are but in that he will not be suckered into the phony politically correct approach that such criminal vermin should be apologized for. There was no soft soaping the gangs and violent reality in Toronto or a spin about the city being relatively safe.
He didn’t sugar coat it. Every shooting is intolerable — no matter where it happens.
So far this year we have 20 more wounded by gun fire than we did last year at this time. The numbers don’t cover up a problem and Tory did not trot out the “this is one idiot with a gun” fallacy but instead addressed the matter for what it really is.
“I for one as mayor want to do whatever we are advised will be helpful not only to foster those relationships but also to contribute to safer communities,” he said. “If that includes things like more cameras and more lighting, more police substations … then we should take a look at those things and get on with them.”
All four arrested — Akeem Bailey, 25, who has previously been before the courts on gun charges, Clifton Vassel Youria, 29, Maurice Smith, 21 and Daniel Duarte-Alvarez, 20 — were each charged with three counts of unauthorized firearm possession as well as attempted murder.
The allegations, not yet tested in court, are that they walked into this housing complex at supper time and fired at will striking people about to have a barbecue while children played nearby.
They were allegedly armed like a militia and emptied their weapons with absolutely savagery and disregard for human life.
We have seen it before, the graveyards are filled with the results. Thank God Toronto Police were able to make swift arrests.
Lord knows things are stacked in favour of the gangsters. Just in the past few days the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes No wonder the bad guys, so brazen and heavily armed, scoff.
It sure was refreshing and needed to have Toronto’s mayor not gloss over or underplay the situation but instead tell it as it really is. He did it for the kids.
“They were exposed to that (violence) just because they were out playing on the streets of their own neighbourhoods — this is not acceptable,” Tory said. “I want to say to the members of the Driftwood community and the surrounding area directly affected by this incident, we know the vast majority of you just want a safe community for you and for your children.”
Tory knows he must roll up his sleeves on this one because the frightening shooting statistics, which included a man being shot in his car while stopped at a stoplight just six days before just down the street, is looking like it could be a deadly summer. He and the TPSB could have a new police chief in place as early as this weekend to help ensure all hands are on deck to stop the bloody madness.
The mayor made that pledge Friday.
