JUL '07 - A lot of people in civil societies are wondering if societies
can run without gun control. By gosh, even sheriffs in the old west knew the
importance of gun control when they put up signs restricting firearms in Dodge
City. And they were only dealing with a few rampantly racist alcoholics out to
battle ‘hostiles,’ (and a couple of peyote slammed Mexicans and a one or two
pot smoking kung fu masters). Guns and methamphetamine or guns and crack
cocaine, whew, did not exist.
It has long been an area of discontent, the
neighbourhood called ‘Jane and Finch.’ This neighbourhood is the urban sprawl
around the corners of those two street names, an area which lies west of
downtown Toronto but north and west of Bay Street, U of T, and Queen’s Park.
While Toronto is Canada’s slice of heaven made from money, brains, and power,
the nearby Jane and Finch is just another neighbourhood like any other in the
land.
It is this invisibility that makes poverty
disappear for everybody but those who live in Jane and Finch. Even still, the
shooting in CW Jeffery Collegiate Institute stunned the area. Apparently Jordan
Manners, a studious fellow with no gang affiliations, argued outside his school
shortly before he was found laying fatally shot in the hallway.
It was during the second week of May, and the mayor
of Toronto, David Miller decried the flow of deadly firearms over the border
from the USA. It turned out two killers remained free for several days during
the initial investigation, and, in fact, no arrests had been made nor weapons
found before it happened again.
While policing and security were still atop the
list of hot topics and everybody intended to show increased vigilance and
security in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, well, another street shooting
erupted, a la the Gaza Strip. It was less than a week after Jordan's funeral,
and resulted in more death.
It was Toronto's 26th, and 27th murders in 2007 and
13th and 14th with guns. Fact: Canada has seven million registered guns,
including 1.2m handguns, closely restricted to police, gun clubs/collectors.
To begin with, the killers (turned out there were
two) of Jordan Manners remained on the loose for several days after the
shooting, until the youngish perpetrators turned themselves in. For several
weeks this spring, therefore, and especially approaching summer, Toronto Mayor
David Miller had to play the role of law and order Sheriff Matt Dillon on a
mission to clean up Dodge City.
Right. Who wants to be run out of town by a bunch
of tumbleweeds blowing in from Jane and Finch? One day, in mid June, the
metropolitan police force of Toronto and cooperative police detachments of the
Ontario Provincial Police made 70 arrests in several cities in southern
Ontario. The drama included an early morning raid in Toronto, to take out the
so-called Driftwood Cripps, a notorious Jane and Finch street gang.
The metro police said the arrests are part of
larger long-term strategy, and, a day later, the number of charges rose to over
700 against 95 people. Police showed what they had seized in a large cache of
handguns, assault rifles, and other guns, and a million dollars in cocaine and
marijuana and other drugs.
The metro police in Toronto called this “a brazen
gang that needed to be destroyed,” and for now the Jane and Finch Driftwood
Cripps are gone and maybe no more. It was the result of an 11-month operation
and occurred separate from recent concerns about Toronto's streets gun
violence.
Police in Canada are hoping new laws will deal a
blow in their favour on gun-related issues. For example, the federal
government’s crime legislation received Royal Assent, May 31 07, and the
Minister of Justice, Hon. Rob Nicholson, discussed the legislation passed at
the end of the parliamentary week.
“It deals out a Mandatory Prison Sentence of
minimum five years for first-time offenders using firearms in the commission of
a crime, and seven years minimum for second offense.” The government
legislation on minimum sentences received Royal Assent, and that puts it over
to the senate for approval.
Nicholson complained about watered down justice
initiatives from his ministry because of the opposition in a minority
parliament but “will continue” to work to strengthen sentencing laws and
victims’ rights. The law designates mandatory sentences in prison for gun
crimes, specifically, 5 years for first offense, and 7 years minimum for the
second offense.
The ten year minimum for a third offense
(presumably ‘dangerous offender’ territory) failed to escape the committee,
said the minister. Ironically for parents of 15 year old Jordan Manners, a
funeral came on the same day as legislation received Royal Assent. The minister
said he believes Canadians want new justice laws in place for summer while the
senate examines the legislation.
He said, the law affects serious crimes to inhibit
those who commit serious damage or killings in society. “Liberals watered down
the legislation quite a bit,” but the Conservatives intend to support it and
were satisfied at Royal Assent.
Canadians have watched the minister work diligently
on several legislative initiatives against crime in a minority parliament. Last
November Nicholson introduced ‘dangerous offender’ legislation with the concept
of ‘reverse onus’ in criminal proceedings.
In fact, Prime Minister Harper introduced the
dangerous offender legislation, and explained, the onus falls upon a person
found guilty of a third violent crime to convince a judge not to designate them
a dangerous offender; a convict would be considered a dangerous offender after
the third offense (putting the onus on criminals to prove why they aren't
dangerous offenders).
The Prime Minister said, "If the person fails
to prove they are not a dangerous offender, he or she will be put in prison for
an indeterminate period of time and won't be eligible for parole for seven
years."
Returning to the cusp of summer ‘07, Premier Jean
Charest tabled legislation in the Quebec National Assembly, Jun 15 07, to
tighten restrictions on gun purchases, part of the new law involves funnelling all
applications to purchase guns through police detachments. “One government has
taken the responsibility to step forward,” said Anastasia DaSousa’s father.
They are calling it Anastasia's Law in Quebec, in
honour of the woman who died under a hail of bullets at Dawson College in
downtown Montreal. Earlier in the spring the government announced victims of
crime compensation from the Canadian federal government, and Hon. Stockwell Day
announced a Victims of Crime Ombudsman. This was good news for crime victims in
Canada, at least it was a start, said some advocates. Questions about funding
may arise, said critics.