By: Surjit Singh Flora
Gun violence sadly nothing new in the world, but lately Canada is renowned for gun violence, that turned this country into Wild West Canada. People are started worrying.
Two men fatally gunned down in a brazen shooting on a busy stretch of Queen Street West Saturday, two people have sustained serious injuries after shots were fired in a Brampton neighborhood on Canada day Sunday. Another shooting on Sunday night that left four people injured after shots were fired just west of the downtown core in the city’s Kensington Market.
A man and a woman were killed following a shooting in Vaughan overnight. On Friday, June 29th in a residential neighborhood on Castle point Drive near Martin Grove Road and Highway 27
“The unacceptable gun violence we’ve seen in the last few weeks has left me incredibly angry but resolved to work with the police to stamp it out. The safety of our city is my top priority said Mayor John Tory, and I share with Chief Mark Saunders and the men and women of the Toronto Police Service. That’s why we’re hiring 200 police officers this year.
I will be reaching out to the provincial and federal governments both Premier Doug Ford and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to discuss how we can work together to ramp up our efforts to fight gang violence and gun crime. I know they are both as committed as I’ll be putting these gangsters in jail he added.
“This is very concerning, not only to us as a police service, a police association, but as somebody who lives in this city,” Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack told media on Monday. “We need to stem this violence and we need to do it now.”
While Premier Ford acknowledged that more needs to be done to tackle the ongoing violence.
“My heart goes out to the victims of the shootings in Toronto over the Canada Day long weekend. This has been a very difficult summer in our city, “Toronto is home to the greatest police officers. We need to make sure they have the resources to round up these criminals, build relationships in communities, and prevent these shootings. I am looking forward to meeting with representatives from the Toronto Police in the near future, so we can get to work on a strategy to end this senseless violence.” He added.
“How many families must be torn apart before we take action? How many children are going to get shot in the parks while playing we acknowledge that Canada is facing a crisis? The connection between domestic violence and gun violence is horrifying and devastating. We’ve tolerated a system that makes it all too easy for dangerous people, like domestic abusers, to get their hands on a gun and turn it on the ones they are supposed to love.
Already Toronto has 51 homicides and more than 200 shootings so far this year. Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack told media that he talks to Mayor and former premier for this gun control, but no action.
Talking to Sundri Kaur a working mother of two said Politicians who offer thoughts and prayers but refuse to discuss the gun laws answer to the gun lobby, not the voters, and, shamefully, not to the victims and their families. Sympathy for victims of gun violence has its place, but we need not offer it as though we have no other options. We don’t have to live this way. We need the safety on our streets and parks.
Prayer certainly has its place in a society plagued with violence, but “faith without work is dead.” No matter how sincere the thoughts and prayers, they are meaningless if we fail to follow up with necessary action she added.
“We need lawmakers at every level to stand up and show the courage to act. We need them to embrace the Canadian spirit that has led us to solve big problems before—and stop the devastation unleashed by gun violence. This violence can end. But that will require politicians to open their eyes, stop ignoring the Canadian people, and take responsibility for making our communities safer.” Said Paramjit Kaur.
Brampton-based Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer.
