“We’re not asking for the impossible when we talk about zero gun violence, because we already have it in the city — but it’s only in certain communities for certain people,” says Louis March.
Andrew Francis Wallace Photo / Toronto Star Photo Illustration
“We’re not asking for the impossible when we talk about zero gun violence, because we already have it in the city — but it’s only in certain communities for certain people,” says Louis March.
Andrew Francis Wallace Photo / Toronto Star Photo Illustration
Toronto has often been described as a tale of two cities — one for affluent, professionals who, if they can afford it, live a relatively safe urban existence. The other for those who are experiencing low income, living outside of the downtown core and who have long been discriminated against.
Between 2012 and 2022, there were 369 shooting deaths in Toronto, according to data analyzed by the Toronto police. Of those victims, 303 were young people aged 12 to 29 years old, according to a Star analysis — the age range the City of Toronto targets for community programming. Hundreds more were injured.
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The number of shooting victims spiked in 2019, ahead of the pandemic before falling during lockdowns. This year’s levels appear to be on track with last year, giving some hope that violence could be on a downward trend — something that is still too early to assess.
And while there are many risk factors for violence, one constant unknown has always been what the city and other levels of government are prepared to do about it — often funnelling more dollars into policing than programs and services proven to help intervene with those at-risk youth and prevent violence in the first place.
Take the city’s 2022 budget for example: Council approved nearly $1.3 billion in spending on policing, while a new plan for community safety was approved with year-one spending of $12 million.
While other city initiatives like affordable housing and economic development can have positive impacts on at-risk youth and other risk factors for crime, policing has also been the largest single line item in the city’s nearly $15-billion budget.
Traditionally, provincial and federal dollars have also favoured policing initiatives, despite their own commissioned studies favouring community solutions.
As part of a 2019 re-election campaign, Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberals promised $250 million to fight gun violence over five years — $50 million a year. Despite their victory at the polls, money has yet to flow to cities and only $12.3 million is promised to Toronto so far.
Louis March, a community safety advocate and founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement, said the problem is not finding solutions to gun violence, but the political will to implement them.
“There’s a difference between living in Rosedale and living in Rexdale,” he said. “So, we know the template where gun violence is not present, and we know the template where the violence is present … we’re not asking for the impossible when we talk about zero gun violence, because we already have it in the city — but it’s only in certain communities for certain people.”
Ultimately he said, governments have to invest in long-term, community-based solutions.
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“You can’t go to a Raptors championship parade … and be safe,” he said. “Is this the Toronto city that is our best? No, it’s not.”
Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based crime reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @jpags
Jennifer
Pagliaro is a Toronto-based crime reporter for the Star. Follow
her on Twitter: @jpags.
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